Shop Latinx, the First Curated and Leading Marketplace for the Latinx Community, Announces Close of Initial $1 Million Pre-Seed

LOS ANGELES , October 15 /Businesswire/ - Shop Latinx, the first curated and leading marketplace for Latinx brands and consumers, raised $1 Million dollars in funding from investment partners Precursor Ventures, Backstage Capital, Debut Capital, 2PM, Humble Ventures, Hispanics in Philanthropy, Silicon Hills Capital, Techstars, among several other consumer angel investors.

Shop Latinx has experienced exponential growth since its founding by entrepreneur Brittany Chavez in 2016, from a fan favorite Instagram account championing Latinx brands, designers and their stories to a full e-commerce marketplace boasting a community with over 100,000 highly engaged fans. Shop Latinx now features over 600 intentionally curated one-of-a-kind products from over 30 brands from brilliant creators and entrepreneurs with rich stories.

With the new funding, Shop Latinx will continue to define the Latinx virtual shopping experience and looks to expand through both online and offline experiential commerce and events. Tapping into music, fashion and culture, Shop Latinx will offer consumers a celebratory community driven experience. Additionally, the brand plans on debuting an intentionally curated selection of new brands, designers, exclusive products, large retail partnerships and more.

“Shop Latinx has always been about championing Latinx brands and communities, we pride ourselves on discovering and curating standout products from leading emerging brands that excites our discerning Gen Z and Millennial consumer. Since inception we have been leading the way in our cultural expertise, curation, trend forecasting, storytelling and supporting emerging and underrepresented brands,” said Brittany Chavez, founder of Shop Latinx. “We are excited to have the support of investment partners in our mission to create an intentional shopping space that was created by Latinx for Latinx.”

"We are excited to back Shop Latinx as this doubles down on our mission to provide capital that encourages growth of diverse founders and brands," said Arlan Hamilton, Founder & Managing Partner, Backstage Capital. "Brittany Chavez impressed us at the outset of our meetings. She's rethought commerce in this market and we know it will have a lasting impact."

With partnerships with iconic companies such as Warner, Nike, and Footlocker looking to further engage with the Latinx community, Shop Latinx is poised for extreme growth. The newly venture backed startup now has four full time employees working across product development and marketing and has seen a 226% sales increase from Q2 to Q3, with 278% in this last month alone.

“The strongest, most enduring companies are built by founders who have an authentic connection to the audiences they serve. Brittany and her team at Shop Latinx have spent years building relationships both with Gen Z Latinx creators and brands and with the fans and customers who love and support those brands,” said Charles Hudson, Precursor Ventures. “This funding will enable the Shop Latinx team to scale their vision for connecting the best Latinx-led brands with a growing audience of consumers.”

"In our first meeting with Shop Latinx, two things were clear: a genuine love for the Latinx community is the root of SLX and Brittany's dedication to providing a unique and curated experience for her consumers,” said Pilar Johnson, Debut Capital. “We are proud and excited to be supporting Shop Latinx and its growth trajectory. For too long, the Latinx consumer has been an afterthought to many brands. We believe Shop Latinx will authentically celebrate and prioritize the community and provide an ideal space for entrepreneurs to create products for them."

The platform is now a fashion and beauty frontrunner with a myriad of unique and on trend offerings from key Latinx-owned brands such as Nopalera (the emerging Mexican-owned botanicals for bath & body), Shocks of Love, (a fragrance house at the intersection of wellness, art, & beauty), MCLC, (footwear that empowers the sole), Novel Swim, (a bathing suit line for women who want to have fun in and out of the water), among others. Additionally, the brand's first ever Limited Edition Merch collection in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month is now available on Shop Latinx’s site.

About Shop Latinx:

Created by entrepreneur Brittany Chavez in 2016, Shop Latinx (SLX) is a lively community of brilliant creators and entrepreneurs with rich stories and deeply intentional practices. SLX prides itself on highlighting the multiplicity of the Latinx community through an intentionally curated, distinctive selection of cutting edge pieces and products that ignite and celebrate the Latinx culture. Each brand on the site was born from a labor of love, and is valued by the partnerships created with these makers above everything else. Shop Latinx’s hope is for the Latinx community to feel seen and celebrated with an intentional shopping space that was created by Latinx for Latinx.

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