Ministry of Supply continues to capitalize on their vision of the future of business wear. The MIT-spun startup raised nearly $430,000 on Kickstarter for their adaptive Apollo dress shirt, and then another $200,000 for their cleverly engineered dress socks. To keep the momentum strong, former Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh and Boston Red Sox pitcher Craig Breslow have chipped in on a $1.1 million seed round.
Hsieh, now partner of the VegasTechFund, spearheaded the financing. SK Ventures also participated in the round alongside Breslow and fellow angel investor Kevin Henrikson, co-founder of Acompli.
Ministry of Supply’s initial dress shirt, the Agent, helped the founding team of five MIT students garner initial success. Using some of the same technology found in NASA’s space suits, the group launched a set of men’s dress shirts and undershirts that wicked away moisture, all while remaining wrinkle-free.
No wrinkles, odor or sweat stains? Men said, “Sign us up.”
The popularity was proven with the unveiling of the space-age Apollo, a dress shirt made of adaptive material that responds to the environment. Absorbing heat on your run into work? The shirt keeps you cooler. Feeling a chill in that icebox of an office of yours? The shirt warms you back up.
“It all comes back to creating clothes that are your second skin,” said Ministry of Supply Co-founder and CEO Gihan Amarasiriwardena in a prior interview.
The team’s techy dress socks reconfirmed the combination of function and fashion makes sense...and money.
When Ministry of Supply first started pitching investors, they were told they needed to see more proof of concept.
What more proof is having raised a collective, crowdfunded $600,000?
“Busy men shouldn’t have to choose between performance or style, and we think there is a huge opportunity to approach menswear with an eye toward innovation,” said Amarasiriwardena in a statement. “This funding will support us as we continue to build new products and meet a market need to arm smart, tech-savvy men with workwear that incorporates cutting-edge fabrics and design to meet the rigors of daily life.”
The news comes on the heels of Brian Kalma joining the Ministry of Supply team as president. Kalma, an early employee at Zappos, most recently worked at Gilt Groupe and Gemvara.
