Bryce Phillips wants to create the next giant online retailer in Seattle. And the 33-year-old founder of Evo, which sells ski, snowboard and skateboard apparel, has landed some fresh capital to deliver on that goal.

The nine-year-old company, which Phillips founded while splitting time between the snow sport paradises of Whistler and Seattle, has pulled in just over $6 million in financing. Interestingly, no venture capital firms participated in the round, with angel investors from companies such as Amazon.com, Facebook, Marchex, Microsoft and BuddyTV leading the deal.

Ski and snowboarders are already well aware of Evo, and many Seattle residents have probably driven by its retail store and headquarters in the Fremont neighborhood. But Phillips thinks there's room to build an even bigger brand, expanding its line of products into other sports categories like surfing and adding new gear that appeals to a younger and active audience.

Evo raised the new capital in order to strengthen the balance sheet in order to provide more confidence to vendors which sell on the site. Some of those vendors include K2, Quicksilver, Billabong, Liquid Force and Burton.

While the company operates the retail store in Fremont, the vast majority of the business (nearly 90 percent) occurs online. Evo operates a 47,000 square foot distribution center in Auburn where goods are stored and shipped worldwide.

The company is on track to do more than $20 million revenue this year. It is also expected to break even.

"We have a long ways to go, but we feel pretty good about where are at," said Phillips, who studied finance at the University of Washington, Seattle University and other schools but never collected his degree. "We see an opportunity to build a billion dollar retail business, so being in the $20 million range, we have a long way to go."

There are certainly plenty of places for snowboarders, wakeboarders and skiers to buy gear online. But Phillips thinks Evo has established a strong community around the brand.

One potential Seattle rival is Zumiez, though Phillips said they tend to serve a younger demographic and are more focused on shopping malls.

Evo does have plans to expand the retail store footprint, but Phillips said "it is not the kind of model where you go and open 20 in a year." Instead, the company is looking at key markets where it could open "flagship" stores, he said.

The bulk of the growth at Evo will come through the online retail storefront, and the new capital will be used to support that effort.

The business has continued to grow despite the headwinds in the economy. Phillips notes that an $800 snowboard setup is not a "need-to-have" type of item. But even so, he said the company has attracted a lot of momentum as a brand, with most customers going to Evo.com directly instead of through search engine traffic.

"We are actually beating our plan this year and we feel pretty poised to end the year in a good spot," said Phillips.

Evo has some heavy hitters supporting the company. Its board includes Dan Nordstrom -- the owner of Outdoor Research member of the Nordstrom retailing family and Dennis Madsen -- the former CEO of REI. The company previously raised $1.4 million just before the economy tanked in 2008.

"We got through those two years, and decided to really bolster our balance sheet and be in a position where we are really ready to step on it in the next few years," said Phillips.