London-based JustWears, a direct-to-consumer retail men’s underwear brand, announced that it has raised £2.6M (approx €3M) in its Seed round of funding.
The company says it wants to revolutionise men’s clothing using biodegradable materials and ergonomic designs.
Investors in this round
The round was led by Pembroke VCT along with Ignite XL and Sunshine Ventures. Pembroke VCT is managed by Andrew Wolfson and brings with it deep knowledge of the consumer sector.
In addition, angel investors including Hustle Fund general manager Elizabeth Yin and Pasta Evangelists co-founder James McArthur also participated in the round.
Aihui Ong, General Partner at Sunshine Ventures, says, “We are highly impressed with the company’s proven ability to grow and build a loyal following with their data-driven strategies. Beyond price, consumers today value traceability, where the materials are sourced, sustainability, and supply chain. JustWear’s designs and sustainable choices are resonating with today’s consumer needs and values. For such a young company, we believe JustWears has massive opportunities for continued growth.”
Use of the capital
JustWears says it is on a mission to use sustainably sourced materials and ergonomic designs to improve people’s lives. The proceeds from this round will help the company to grow its team to around 15 people, invest in bringing new innovative, biodegradable materials to the market, and develop the company’s next product lines.
Yang Liu, co-founder & CEO at JustWears, explains, “Having experienced first-hand the impact of unsustainable crops like cotton can have on the plant, the time is now to reduce our over-reliance on certain natural fabrics. After all, the fashion industry is the second most polluting industry in the world and until there is a commitment by brands and companies to change the materials they use, this isn’t going to happen.”
“We’re excited to bring Pembroke and our other amazing investors on this journey to help lead this change and create comfortable and sustainable everyday clothing items that people love,” adds Liu.
Innovation in men’s underwear
JustWears claims that it has spoken to hundreds of men and they all have the same issue – their underwear is not fit for purpose. It is underwhelming and letting them down. The company thus wants to make underwear for men that is much more than just a utility purchase.
The founders say, “The more research we did, the more it became clear that there hadn’t been any innovation in men’s underwear for a very long time. There only seemed to be a stark choice between bank-breaking aspirational brands or poor quality value brands that would ride up, chafe and fall apart after a few wears. Nothing out there was really speaking to guys who were serious about their underwear, and so we came up with JustWears….”
The company is the brainchild of entrepreneur Yang Liu, who followed her passion of founding a startup aimed at “radically transforming the sorry state of the male underwear market.” JustWears was launched in 2018 by Liu and Alexander Walsh after their Kickstarter became the most-backed apparel campaign in the UK.
What does JustWears offer?
The company uses materials made from natural sources including trees, seaweed, and corn, to reduce the overreliance of the fashion industry on materials like cotton – which needs high levels of water and pesticides to grow.
JustWears’ first product is a pair of underwear made with an innovative pouch design and mesh undercarriage that promotes airflow. The company claims that it is crafted from tree fibres which are sustainably sourced from forestries in Austria and uses 10 times less water and 20 times less arable land to produce when compared with cotton.
Since its inception in 2018, JustWears has sold over 150,000 items to more than 40,000 customers in 70+ countries and received more than 3,000 five-star reviews. The company has also witnessed a successful growth of more than 250 per cent year-on-year and its products have been featured on BBC’s Dragons’ Den, This Morning, and Gogglebox.
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