Snowleader outlines strategy to reach €150 Million in sales by 2027

Snowleader aims to increase its revenue by an additional €60 million over the next four years. The French platform is known for distributing gear for outdoor activities such as skiing, hiking, and trail running, as well as lifestyle lines from brands like Patagonia, Picture Organic Clothing, and The North Face. It’s goal is to reach a sales milestone of €150 million, following an €87 million turnover in its last fiscal year.

This Monday, Thomas Rouault, CEO of Snowleader, which raised €10 million in 2020, announced that the company has secured a new funding package of €15 million. The operation was conducted half with equity and through a multi-year commitment from a banking consortium led by Crédit Agricole Group (CA des Savoie, CA Sud Rhône Alpes, and LCL) acting as the arranger, according to a company press release. All historic shareholders have reinvested in the company, noted the Annecy-based company’s CEO, who also invested personally and remains the majority shareholder, with six members of his executive committee also becoming shareholders in this transaction.

“This year we’ve generated an additional €15 million in revenue excluding tax compared to the previous year, reaching €73 million. At the time of the last funding round, we were at €37 million. This substantial growth requires stock and funding for working capital. To maintain this momentum, we need to consolidate our equity and rely on the support of our banking partners. We asked them to consolidate the working capital financing contract into a single five-year agreement to secure the short-term financing envelope, especially in a context where opening the banking tap can be challenging,” he explained.

These resources will allow Snowleader, which currently makes the majority of its revenue outside of France, to carry out purchasing campaigns for key periods, particularly the winter season with Black Friday, the holiday season, sales periods, and the ski season, crucial for its outdoor business. The company, already present in Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Italy, and also in the UK (a market that has seen a resurgence in 2023 where the company has simplified customs duties management), expanded into the Dutch market last autumn and aims to launch dedicated sites in Denmark and Sweden by the end of the year. This expansion is expected to drive growth in the coming years.

“Last year we achieved a 26% growth for our 15th year by gaining market share. We have a fairly conservative growth plan. It corresponds to €13 million in revenue excluding tax per year. This is roughly what we’ve achieved over the last three years,” explained the CEO. “We estimate that France, which remains our flagship market, will contribute 35% to 40% of this growth. The rest will come from opening new countries and achieving higher growth rates in the European markets we’ve already entered.”

No external growth is planned for these geographical developments, but Thomas Rouault does not rule out operations on its own brands, with acquisitions, licensing developments, or equity investments. The company has had an agreement since 2021 with the South Korean company K2 to develop the Eider brand’s offering in Europe.

“Our model is to have a unique offering compared to other players in the distribution sector. While not necessarily owning a brand, it is possible to consider agreements over a geographic area. In the first year with Eider, it was a test with a collection, but we were able to work with Goretex, Primaloft, and Polartec. We are in the top 10 textile brands on Snowleader. We are very happy. The goal is to integrate the top five textile brands by expanding the range with a more aggressive price point and a higher one with a three-layer gore-tex to accompany the most technical customers,” he said.

By developing collections for Eider, Snowleader’s teams have integrated new professions and discovered the constraints of international production and logistics as well as the weight of the working capital requirements of this activity. “We have faced the challenges that brands encounter. This has helped us to better understand and also to better challenge brands, particularly regarding increasingly early deadlines in the calendar.”

Despite developing its own offerings, the company remains focused on distributing outdoor brands. While technical expertise continues to be at the core of its actions and communications, the platform benefits from the global enthusiasm for outdoor style. “The city segment, which encompasses our lifestyle proposition, saw the strongest sales growth last year,” observed Thomas Rouault. “Even though we always have to educate apparel brands that we are not a promotions-driven business, there is a growing interest from labels. It’s a growth lever, but we are controlling its development carefully.”

The CEO highlighted his cautious resource management. In 2020, he had announced the development of a network of stores in France and Europe. However, Snowleader has not opened a single store. “Indeed, it was in our development plan,” admitted Thomas Rouault. “But after drafting the project, the context changed significantly. The market became unfavorable with skyrocketing rents and effort rates that are hard to accept.” Nevertheless, he noted the numerous openings of outdoor labels and stores in Paris and remains vigilant for an opening in the French capital.