Omnia Fishing Announces $4m Raise to Tackle User Generated Content and Drive Major Growth
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - As user generated content (UGC) continues to transform online retail, Omnia Fishing, the fastest growing online tackle store in the fishing industry, shared that it is seeing rapid growth thanks to a focus on utilizing angler-driven content to drive transactions based on location. To support platform expansion, Omnia announced it has raised $4 million in a round led by Dundee Venture Capital and Founder Collective, participation from Bread & Butter Ventures, Great North Ventures, Liquid2 Ventures (Joe Montana Managing Partner) and Madison Valley Partners.
“We're seeing such tremendous growth in both sales, users, and user generated content in the form of fishing reports,” said Omnia CEO and Co-Founder Matt Johnson. “Consumers are purchasing and indicating what gear worked on the lakes they fished in order to help other anglers purchase the right tackle with confidence. These fishing report authors receive free tackle credits when they help someone shop for tackle. The rate of submission and conversion is exceeding our expectations.”
"Omnia bringing this passion-driven vertical online in a context-rich way is a critical push forward for an industry where brands and vendors have lost their customer connection after decades of big-box domination,” said Greg Beaufait, Partner at Dundee Venture Capital. “We've seen the Omnia team execute since day one and are thrilled to double down here as they continue to grow at a breakneck pace."
Johnson added, “We saw this raise as a perfect opportunity to accelerate growth in users and expand our platform tools and technology to streamline user content submissions and optimize how we help anglers shop by lake and stay engaged.” The company also shared plans to significantly increase its engineering team and open a new 30,000 square foot facility later this year.
About Omnia Fishing
Omnia Fishing was born from the premise that anglers rely on data about the changing, complex relationships between water body details, fish species, fishing styles, and season. Omnia knows that the way we buy our tackle and gear is so intricately connected to our fishing preferences and location. Omnia is the first company to digitize the in-store experience by building a personalized online tackle shopping experience that provides tackle recommendations for each lake at that specific time of year. Additionally, thousands of fishing reports have been filed by customers to indicate what products have been working in real-time. The result is a constantly improving, lake specific recommended for tackle and techniques.
About Dundee Venture Capital
Dundee Venture Capital was formed in 2010 to lead seed rounds in the best technology entrepreneurs in the Mighty Middle, markets historically underserved by venture capital.
Dundee has over $75 million under management across three funds and has invested in 50 world-class founding teams in 20 different cities since 2010. Dundee has offices in Chicago, Omaha, St. Louis and Minneapolis.
