Foxtrot rakes in $1.1M and opens new West Loop store

by Sam Dewey
November 3, 2015

Foxtrot CEO Mike LaVitola with his co-founder and CTO, Taylor Bloom (left) in the new West Loop location.

At the beginning of 2015, Built In Chicago named Foxtrot one of our 50 startups to watch.

We’ve been watching, and this week, they delivered big.

The company, which launched in 2013 to curate and deliver selections of food, drinks, and everyday items, announced it has raised a $1.1 million seed round of financing.

Those funds find their roots in an influential squad of angel investors, including ChicagoNEXT chairman Mark Tebbe, Trunk Club co-founder and CFO Kevin Price, and Apex Venture Partners’ Lon Chow.  

“We’re thrilled to work with some of Chicago’s best e-commerce and retail minds as we build the first truly omni-channel business in this industry,” said Michael LaVitola, co-founder and CEO of Foxtrot, in a statement. “The new flagship location really brings our curated app experience to life, and allows our customers to discover and interact with the city’s best food and drink in a more meaningful way.”

In addition to their seed-stage funding, the company also debuted a new brick-and-mortar storefront at 1019 W. Lake St. in the West Loop. The new site’s inauguration comes less than a year after Foxtrot opened its first store in Lincoln Park. The 1,700 square-foot store will offer the same selection of on-demand goods available on its mobile app.

Besides their food and beverage offerings, the company said the space will be used to host events and feature art exhibitions in order to cultivate a “full sensory shopping experience.”

Foxtrot is an alumnus of Booth School of Business’s New Venture Challenge and is available in Chicago on Android and iPhone.

The new store is open for business starting November 16.

Image via Foxtrot

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