Rockets of Awesome ships personalized seasonal boxes of children’s apparel based on a short style quiz, letting parents keep what they want and return the rest. Launched in 2016 by Rachel Blumenthal out of her earlier startup Cricket’s Circle, the company combines data-driven merchandise R&D with human editorial curation. Individual pieces in each box are priced roughly $16–$38, and the company’s “whole box” deal is $150. Historically focused on its subscription boxes and direct e-commerce, Rockets of Awesome is moving to expand an omnichannel retail presence via a partnership with Foot Locker. The company plans an experiential retail location timed for back-to-school and will have Rockets of Awesome assortments in Kids Foot Locker stores as well as on kidsfootlocker.com. According to Crunchbase cited in the article, the company’s total funding is now $49 million. Rockets of Awesome is a year-old, New York–based subscription service that sends curated boxes of kid apparel. It ships 12 pieces of clothing per child at the start of each season and charges parents only for the items they keep; returns are free and the company says it learns from returns to improve recommendations. Unlike many adult-focused subscription services, Rockets of Awesome designs and makes its own apparel and says no two boxes contain the same items. Individual pieces are priced between $12 and $36, below many comparable retail brands. The company evolved out of founder Rachel Blumenthal’s earlier startup Cricket’s Circle. The business model focuses on convenient discovery for parents and iterative improvement through customer feedback and returns. Rockets of Awesome is a direct-to-consumer kids' apparel company that operates a personal shopping service sending seasonal curated boxes of 12 mix-and-match items (11 clothing pieces and 1 accessory) four times per year. Parents sign up free, complete a style profile for sizing and preferences (the service supports boys and girls, sizes 2–14), receive a box and only pay for the items they keep, returning the rest by mail. The company designs and manufactures its entire catalog in-house, enabling price points of $12–$36 per item while targeting quality comparable to $40–$120 pieces. Customers also get a personalized online shop that refreshes with new styles every two weeks, and Rockets of Awesome uses purchase and box-keep data to inform future designs. The concept grew out of founder Rachel Blumenthal's prior site Cricket's Circle, which had 50,000 members and provided early access; Cricket's Circle will be winding down as the new site launches. Design leadership includes Zia Taylor, whose background includes Gap Kids, American Eagle, JCPenney and The Children's Place. Rockets of Awesome is backed by $7 million in seed funding from General Catalyst, Forerunner Ventures and LAUNCH and is launching now for back-to-school shopping.

Total raised

$39M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Series C

Latest activity

Feb 2019