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§ Private Profile · Austin, TX, USA
Tecovas is a technology company.
Tecovas designs and offers premium Western footwear and apparel, specializing in handmade cowboy boots crafted through a direct-to-consumer model. The company emphasizes quality and traditional bootmaking techniques, with each boot involving over 200 steps, utilizing hand-selected leathers, and featuring a tri-layer insole for comfort and support. Its product line has expanded beyond boots to include a full range of Western-inspired clothing and accessories for men, women, and children, all designed in Austin, Texas.
The company was founded in 2015 by Paul Hedrick, who recognized a gap in the Western wear market. Hedrick observed that the industry was becoming stale and difficult for new customers to navigate, leading to his vision of revitalizing the sector by offering high-quality, accessible Western goods that captured the authentic spirit of the West in a modern way. This initial insight drove the creation of a brand focused on craftsmanship and customer connection.
Tecovas serves a diverse customer base seeking enduring style and quality in their Western wardrobe. Its vision extends beyond products to defining the West as a confident way of life, welcoming all to experience its accessible range of well-made items. The company aims to provide exciting, accessible, and durable Western footwear and apparel, fostering a sense of community and hospitality around the culture it represents.
Tecovas has raised $77.4M across 5 funding rounds.
Tecovas has raised $77.4M in total across 5 funding rounds.
Tecovas is not a technology company; it is a direct-to-consumer (D2C) retailer of premium cowboy boots, western wear, and accessories, founded in 2015 in Austin, Texas. The company crafts handmade products using high-quality materials through over 200 artisan steps per boot, priced under $300 to disrupt traditional markups, and sells them via an online Shopify-powered store with expanding physical retail locations.[3][8][6] Tecovas serves style-conscious consumers seeking durable, affordable western apparel, solving pain points like high middlemen costs and opaque pricing in the boot industry while delivering trustworthy checkout experiences and rapid inventory management.[3][7] Its growth momentum includes $15 million in equity funding post-launch, brick-and-mortar expansion to hubs like Austin, Nashville, and Louisville since 2019, and tech optimizations enabling 20-minute product launches (down from days), 30-second updates for 10,000 SKUs, and handling 35,700 peak visitors without developer tickets.[2][3][6]
Tecovas launched in 2015 as an online-only D2C brand, often dubbed the "Warby Parker of cowboy boots," starting with a Shopify site to share its artisan story and handmade products.[3][8] Founders drew from western wear traditions, emphasizing quality craftsmanship to challenge industry norms of intermediaries and inflated prices, quickly gaining traction with strong initial sales leading to $15 million in funding for U.S. store expansion.[3] A pivotal shift came around 2019 with its flagship Austin store, marking evolution from pure DTC to omnichannel retail in key markets like Nashville and Louisville, fueled by innovative eCommerce and marketing that positioned it as the fastest-growing boot company per industry data.[6]
Tecovas rides the D2C-to-omnichannel wave in fashion retail, leveraging composable commerce stacks (Sanity, Hydrogen, Shopify) amid rising demand for flexible, scalable eCommerce post-pandemic.[1][2] Timing aligns with retail's shift to headless CMS and real-time data tools, enabling non-technical teams to own storefronts and planning—critical as western wear digitizes and competes with fast-fashion giants.[2][4][5] Market forces like consumer preference for transparent, quality DTC brands (e.g., vs. traditional bootmakers) and tools reducing engineering bottlenecks favor Tecovas, influencing the ecosystem by proving artisan brands can scale via tech without losing craft focus, inspiring similar replatforming in apparel.[3][6]
Tecovas is poised for aggressive retail growth beyond its 40+ locations, integrating operational metrics like NPS and inventory into Cube for deeper planning, while expanding product lines and geographic footprint.[4][6] Trends like AI-driven personalization, further composable stacks, and western wear's cultural resurgence (e.g., via music/fashion crossovers) will accelerate its trajectory from DTC disruptor to category leader. Its influence may evolve by setting benchmarks for tech-merchandiser empowerment in physical-digital hybrid retail, potentially attracting acquisition interest as it blends timeless craftsmanship with modern scalability—reinforcing its core mission of honest, high-quality western style at scale.
Tecovas has raised $77.4M across 5 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $56.0M Series C in January 2022.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 12, 2022 | $56M Series C | Elephant | Access Capital, Kemmons Wilson Companies, Seamless Capital | Announced |
| Feb 25, 2020 | $15M Venture Round | — | — | Announced |
| Oct 2, 2017 | $2.6M Venture Round | Ryan Seiders | — | Announced |
| Oct 13, 2016 | $1.8M Venture Round | Brian Spaly, Blue Collective | — | Announced |
| Oct 1, 2016 | $2M Seed | — | Brand Foundry Ventures, NextGen Venture Partners | Announced |
Tecovas has raised $77.4M in total across 5 funding rounds.
Tecovas's investors include Elephant, Access Capital, Kemmons Wilson Companies, Seamless Capital, Ryan Seiders, Brian Spaly, Blue Collective, Brand Foundry Ventures, NextGen Venture Partners.