Saysh, the US-based community-centred lifestyle brand co-founded by Olympian Allyson Felix and her brother Wes Felix, has announced its Series A round closed at $8 million, led by specialist consumer fund Iris and Gap’s performance lifestyle brand, Athleta. Other additional investors in the round include Redpoint Ventures and Springbank Collective.
Saysh will use the new funding to scale its branded e-commerce, wholesale distribution, and community-based retail footprint, something the founders see as a big growth opportunity. The investment will also support an expanded product offering and the launch of several new activity-specific sneakers. Through the brand’s existing platform, it has been able to successfully test different ideas and concepts to inform their product portfolio moving forward, the company said in a press release.
Additionally, Springbank Collective, an early-stage investor in the infrastructure for working women and their families, brought together a group of valuable angel investors to support Saysh via a Special Purpose Vehicle. Participants include Anne-Marie Slaughter, an internationally renowned gender and policy expert; Kerin Hempel, CEO of New York Road Runners; and Sabia Wade, founder of The Black Doula and Black maternal health advocate. A formal advisor for Springbank Collective, Allyson is passionate about their mission for a more equal future.
Saysh, the US-based community-centred lifestyle brand co-founded by Olympian Allyson Felix and her brother Wes Felix, has announced its Series A round closed at $8 million, led by specialist consumer fund Iris and Gap’s performance lifestyle brand, Athleta. Other additional investors in the round include Redpoint Ventures and Springbank Collective.
The 50 per cent women early-stage team at Redpoint, an industry venture capital that has successfully invested in companies like Netflix and Sonos, has also joined the funding round. A long-time sponsored athlete, Allyson decided to leave a sportswear giant after the company attempted to reduce her pay during her pregnancy with her first child. Being forced to choose between being a mother and a professional athlete birthed Saysh, a brand that represents hope, acceptance, and the power to create change. Saysh continues to advocate for improved maternity leave for athletes and working mothers, as well as better access to healthcare for Black mothers.
Saysh’s vision is a future in which inequality is undermined by female creativity and athleticism. This Series A funding round, as well as their recently announced first-of-its-kind Maternity Returns Policy, further supports this vision.
“This is an exciting next step for the brand, and we’re so grateful to those partners who see the potential for Saysh to help shape a better future for us all. Saysh, at its core, celebrates women and their voices, and this funding further empowers us to lead in that regard. We are now, more than ever, positioned to understand and meet the needs of our customers, delivering more value than ever before,” Wes Felix, co-founder and CEO of Saysh, said in a statement.
“When we signed Allyson Felix as our first-ever sponsored athlete in 2019, we knew we wanted to do things differently by supporting her as a mom, athlete and advocate. Today we are proud to continue supporting Allyson as an entrepreneur while fuelling growth to the Athleta brand with our investment in Saysh,” Mary Beth Laughton, president and CEO, Athleta, said.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (GK)
