dropout reaches the goal of its equity crowdfunding campaign

equity crowdfunding

Thanks to a strong start, marked by significant support of online streetwear communities members, dropout’s first funding round, held via equity crowdfunding on investment platform Mamacrowd, will soon be coming to an anticipated conclusion after the extended target amount of €750k was reached within a week of the campaign’s start.

The initiative has seen the participation of 2 VC funds and over 100 private investors. The team regards this as a remarkable demonstration of trust and consideration by the public in the company’s potential to fulfill its campaign pledges.

“Due to my experience as a target customer of a business like mine, I was confident that our campaign would have had a positive impression at least amongst our customer and supporter bases”, states Kola Tytler, dropout’s founder and CEO, “We now look forward to the challenges ahead and to building upon the strategy we have set out for the next 18-24 months. We are an ambitious bunch and are already working towards implementing the key parts of our expansion plan. Initially, we will expand the team and move the store to a prime location within the city centre. We aim to attract more traffic and bringing our products closer to the fashion enthusiasts.”

Young investors


Key to the success of the equity crowdfunding campaign was the participation of young investors.

dropout states that over a third of retail investors were 18-24 years old and over 2 thirds under 35.

Use of funds

dropout plans include opening of a new retail location in the heart of Milan’s fashion district; further development of HypeAnalyzer; set-up of temporary shops in Italian locations such as Venice, Florence, Rome, Porto Cervo; the improvement of the e-commerce and an increase in marketing expenses; the promotion of dropout branded clothing and accessories which has so far seen good success amongst crowds.

Author: Kola Tytler

I am a NHS doctor, based in London and currently working in Surrey. I hold a medicine MBBS degree from King’s College London and I have successfully completed short courses in the fields of law and business at the London School of Economics and Imperial College London universities. I am currently undertaking a Master of Business Administration degree at the University of Birmingham. I am the founder and co-owner of dropout®, a store specialized in the sale of limited edition sneakers and streetwear. Located in Milan, Italy, dropout® quickly proved a huge success and is currently one of the country's most reknown stores, as well as a must-destination for fashion enthusiasts. The streetwear resale market represents a tens of billions worth "industry" which is largely underestimated by traditional investors. One of my goals is to gain a better understanding of how this vastly unregulated market operates while contributing to reshaping the rules of fashion economics. With a mathematical approach, via my project HypeAnalyzer we objectively analyze and report trends in the resell market of Nike, Adidas, Jordan Brand, Balenciaga and Asics sneakers, as well as assessing the value of selected items from the weekly drop of the streetwear label Supreme NewYork 1994. Between 2015 and 2018 I was one of 2 masterminds behind YEEZY Mafia, media outlet surrounding the sneakers released by Kanye West which now features millions of followers and is the worldwide reference for all things YEEZY. Following a highly successful equity crowdfunding campaign, dropout is now backed by Azimut SPA (which invested via its ELTIF Alicrowd) and A.Celli group, as well as over 150 retail investors. dropout's latest post-money valuation is around €2.3M. I look forward to connect with like-minded individuals and to explore potential expansions for my current business activities.