Vancouver-based SoleSavy, an online community of sneaker and streetwear enthusiasts, has announced it’s raised $2 million in a round of funding finalized in 2020, a story first reported on by TechCrunch. The platform includes a subscription website, app and podcast along with a presence on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
The company was founded in 2018 by Dejan Pralica and Justin Dusanj whose goal was building a community for people who love sneaker culture but are looking for a friendlier approach than the more intense Discord cook group sites solely focused on flipping sneakers and clothing for profit.
SoleSavy offers its 4,000 members access to monitors (technology that scans online stores’ backends and provides up-to-the second alerts on stock numbers, releases and restocks) and add-to-cart links akin to cook groups, the community’s ethos is centered on each member obtaining a single pair of shoes to have and to hold.
The platform’s terms of service agreement lets it be known that known resellers will be booted from the site. And indeed on the SoleSavy podcast announcing the news, Pralica explained that part of his goal in launching SoleSavy is saving sneaker culture from resellers.
“I really feel like right now I’m at a point in my life and the company is at a point in its life and trajectory we can make a serious serious impact on sneaker culture and really change it for the better,” Pralica explained. “I genuinely feel like we could look back at SoleSavy in 2018 and SoleSavy in 2028 and that is the moment that sneaker culture was saved.” He went on to add, “I hate that no one else is fighting for us and I’m going to do it. I wake up just to say f*ck StockX every morning.”
Priced at $33/month and already profitable, at the moment the site is only onboarding individuals willing to pay the full annual fee of $330.
Pralica previously founded Kicks Deals, a site that provided information on sneakers selling below retail while Dusanj was a regional Nike store manager based in Vancouver.
SoleSavy’s $2 million in funding includes investment from Panache Ventures, Jason Calacanis’ LAUNCH, Turner Novak, Ben Narasin, Morning Brew’s Alex Lieberman and Austin Rief, Tiny Capital, Wesley Pentz (better known as Diplo), music creative Yung Gravy, Ryan Holmes, Roham Gharegozlou and Bedrock Capital.
