San Jose, CA-based sporting goods retailer Fogdog Sports closed its second round of
venture funding to the tune of nearly $20 million with additional investments
from Intel Corp., Marquette Venture Partners and Sprout Group.
The round included earlier participation from Venrock Associates and Vertex
Management, and from Fogdogs original investors, J. H. Whitney & Co.,
Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Novus Venture Partners.
“This round of investment gives Fogdog Sports’ a very strong financial basis
to expand merchandising, distribution and customer service operations, to
support marketing and other brand-building efforts and to grow our
international business,” said Fogdog CEO Tim Harrington.
Fogdog Sports was originally SportSite.com, changing its name in November
1998. The Sprout Group is the venture capital affiliate of Donaldson, Lufkin &
Jenrette.
“Fogdog’s clear leadership in a large and fragmented market
perfectly fits
our investment objective in electronic commerce,” said Alex Rosen, vice
president at the Sprout Group. “We are excited to work with a great
management team and existing investors to leverage Sprout’s expertise in
e-commerce and traditional retailing.”