Catch Co. Closes $6 Million Funding Round to Further Scale Its Next-Generation Fishing Brand

CHICAGO, Dec. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Catch Co., a digital sportfishing brand platform, today announced that it has closed a $6 million funding round, led by existing investor Listen Ventures. These funds will support Catch Co. in its mission to create amazing fishing brands, products and shopping experiences for the modern angler.

Founded in 2012, Catch Co. has quickly grown from offering a monthly fishing tackle subscription called Mystery Tackle Box, to selling its own fishing lures and rods, launching the Karl's Bait & Tackle e-commerce platform, and producing a long-form content series. After creating a strong foundation with its digital-first approach, last year Catch Co. also began casting its products into new channels, including retailers such as Dick's Sporting Goods and Walmart.

"Brands today are being built at the intersection of content, community and commerce. Catch Co. has executed on this model brilliantly and built the fastest-growing brand in fishing. Listen is all-in on this dynamic brand and team and their goal to move consumers to the outdoors," said Rick Desai, Managing Partner at Listen.

Catch Co. continues to see rapid growth across its entire ecosystem with year-over-year growth rates approaching 100%. Catch Co. expects to deliver over 2.5 million Mystery Tackle Boxes in 2021 and anticipates membership to its Karl's Bait & Tackle ecommerce site to surpass 50,000 anglers in 2021 - a 500% increase since its 2018 launch. All of this growth is underpinned by its social community and innovative content, including "Unchartered," which just surpassed 15 million minutes streamed on YouTube and Amazon Prime.

Part of the capital raise will go toward investing in new product categories, like Catch Co.'s latest expansion of its first-ever fishing rod, developed in collaboration with famed YouTube influencers, the Googan Squad, which sold out during pre-orders.

"Catch Co. and Mystery Tackle Box were born out of our passion for authentically engaging with our customer community, which plays a major role in how we develop products and content," says Ross Gordon, the company's founder & CEO. "Since the very beginning our focus has been on genuinely connecting with modern anglers in ways that build unmatched brand loyalty. We are making fishing more enjoyable, inclusive, and accessible for tens of millions of anglers and our approach is not only helping us grow, it's growing the sport."

To learn more about Catch Co., view its content series and explore species and waterbody-specific product lines developed to help anglers catch more fish, visit CatchCo.com. Follow along with over 1 million anglers on the brand's @CatchCo, @MysteryTackleBox and @KarlsBaitandTackle social channels on all platforms.

About Catch Co.

Catch Co. exists to rescue people from the indoors. Founded in 2012 by fishing enthusiast Ross Gordon, Catch Co. is on a mission to amaze anglers with the best products, content and shopping experiences in all of fishing. Catch Co. is known for its innovative commerce brands Mystery Tackle Box - the original monthly subscription box of lures and tackle and Karl's Bait & Tackle - a membership-based ecommerce community. In addition, it has launched original product brands 10,000 Fish, BioSpawn, Heavy Metal Tungsten among others, collaborations including Bubonic, Googan Squad and Mike Bucca's Baby Bull line and its original content series Unchartered, with millions of minutes viewed. For more information and inspiration to get outside, visit CatchCo.com.

About Listen

Founded in 2010, Listen is a consumer-focused venture capital firm based in Chicago. Listen's team of investors and brand experts operate a concentrated investment strategy partnering with visionary entrepreneurs to build the brands of tomorrow. Portfolio brands include Calm, Kiwi Co, Factor, Public Goods, Interior Define, Own Up, and Slumberkins. Learn more at Listen.co.

SOURCE Catch Co.