10 Things You Didn’t Know About Eddy Lu
Eddy Lu is an American businessman and entrepreneur. He is the chief executive officer of a company called GOAT Group. The business is a marketplace for apparel, sneakers, and accessories that are all certified authentic. Mr. Lu is also an investor who has developed a solid career for himself at a young age. He’s a good role model for young entrepreneurs as he has launched his own company and grown it successfully. If you’re not familiar with him, here are 10 things you probably didn’t know about Eddy Lu.
1. Eddy Lu is a co-founder of GOAT Group
According to Crunchbase, Eddy Lu is the executive leader of Goat Group. He is also a co-founder and co-owner of the startup. The business is headquartered in the greater Los Angeles area of California.
2. Eddy is an angel investor
In addition to running a successful startup, Mr. Lu has also made financial investments in other businesses. So far, he has invested in three companies. Most recently, he invested $4.3 million in a company called Outer. The business sells outdoor furniture directly to the consumers and is based in Santa Monica, California. He invested $4 million in dot.LA in a Seed Round of funding in January of 2020. His first investment was in Handle, a financial management startup focused on the construction industry. Mr. Lu invested $4.5 million in the startup on May 1, 2019.
3. He is a serial entrepreneur
Eddy Lu has established two startups with other people. In addition to launching Goat Group, he also co-founded another company called Superb. The latter is a Los Angeles-based startup that helps people remember places they would like to visit. Mr. Lu is busy running both companies at the same time at the present.
4. He attended the University of California
According to his LinkedIn profile, Eddy Lu enrolled in computer science at the University of California, Berkely in 1999. He continued to attend through 2003. He didn’t list a degree, but since Mr. Lu attended the institution for a full four years it is assumed that he graduated with his bachelor’s degree, or at a minimum, a certification.
5. He went to work right out of college
Mr. Lu left college in 2003. The same year he was hired at Deloitte Consulting as a consultant. This was his first job out of college. He worked for the company from 2003 until 2005, spending a total of 2 years gaining experience in the consulting field. He left the job to pursue a new venture in a different line of work.
6. He worked for Lehman Brothers
In 2005, Eddy was hired to work for Lehman Brothers in the Equity Research division. He was employed on the job for one year. Lu gained valuable experience in finance during his time at Lehman Brothers, but this was not the line of work that he planned to stay in for long. He had dreams of owning a company. When he left the job in 2006, it was to take a step that would put him in charge of a business as the owner. It would not be a company that he built from the ground up, but a franchise was in his future.
7. He bought a franchise in 2006
It was three years in between when Eddy Lu left Deloitte Consulting and when he officially bought into the franchise called Beard Papas. This is an international chain that specializes in baking cream puffs that are committed to being fresh and natural. This is a Japanese chin that operates within Japan and in more than fifteen different countries throughout the world. He remained the owner of the franchised store until 2010.
8. He co-founded GOAT Group in 2010
Mr. Lu has been the co-founder and chief executive officer of GOAT Group for 11 years as of 2021. The company specializes in representing three major brands including Flight Club, GOAT, and alias. The startup has a unique business model that involves a resale marketplace for authentic sneakers, apparel, and accessories. GOAT Group uses digital technology to deploy its mobile apps to bring together primary and resale markets that can be accessed by members of its global community. There are more than 30 million members signed up for GOAT Group currently.
9. His company is venture capital-backed
Eddy Lu has been fortunate to attract the attention of several major venture capital funders. Crunchbase confirms that GOAT Group has raised $492.6 million in venture capital funding. It has participated in a total of nine rounds so far, with the latest Series F round closing on June 24, 2021. The startup is backed by thirty-one VC investors who have confidence in the likelihood that it will generate a good return on the investments made. It received $195,000,000 in Series F funding with Adage Capital Management leading the effort along with four other investors for the round.
10. Lu’s company is on the move as a unicorn
Mr. Eddy Lu is a very wealthy businessman and entrepreneur. His business GOAT Group has achieved remarkable success within its niche of the industry. After the most recent round of venture capital funding that brought in just shy of $200 million, the company received a new valuation estimate. The current figure places GOAT Group with a post-money valuation of $3.7 billion. This is more than three times the amount required to qualify as a unicorn status company. GOAT Group, Mr. Lu, and his partner are all very rich. Eddy has done a remarkable job in leading the startup through the ups and downs of launching a new startup, and his hard work, along with his partner has paid off. Eddy Lu is an entrepreneur to keep your eye on. He is just getting started with the first acquisition made by GOAT in 2018 when it acquired the brand Flight Club. We’re expecting to hear more about him in the future.
