New England and the Pacific Northwest are both home to some of the biggest names in the running industry, from Nike in Oregon to New Balance in Boston.
Now, two mission-driven running apparel companies have embarked on a cross-country team-up. Somerville-based Janji and Seattle-based Oiselle announced a merger facilitated by Digsbury Ventures. The companies did not disclose terms of the deal.
Janji donates 2% of proceeds from every purchase to clean water initiatives. Oiselle makes clothing by and for women athletes.
Janji co-founder and CEO David Spandorfer said customers of the two brands likely won’t notice a change. Oiselle and Janji will operate as sister brands with their own products and keep their headquarters in Somerville and Seattle. Spandorfer said 11 employees work out of their Somerville office and there are three remote employees.
Spandorfer and co-founder Mike Burnstein will stay in their roles at Janji. At Oiselle, founder Sally Bergesen will step into an advisory role and president Atsuko Tamura will continue to lead the company.
The real change is happening behind the scenes. The two brands will start to share resources that will hopefully allow them both to continue growing, Spandorfer said.
“We’re strong when we’re able to share state secrets in a way that gets to the heart of what we’re doing,” Spandorfer said.
Those shared resources could include software, accounting and operations costs. And, Spandorfer said, the companies may use remote workers to do work for both teams.
“If you’re able to share certain expenses, you’re able to invest more in product, in marketing, in letting the brands grow together,” Spandorfer said.
At the end of the day, Spandorfer said these two companies are “stronger together.”
The companies also announced that Matt McCalpin would serve as managing director of partnerships to run those shared services between both organizations.
Spandorfer said he’s known Bergesen since Janji was founded in 2012. He and Burnstein got the idea for the company while students and collegiate runners at Washington University in St. Louis. Bergesen has been a mentor and an inspiration to them, Spandorfer said, and for years they’ve shared tips on things like the best inventory software.
Spandorfer said it’s “not impossible” that Janji and Oiselle would collaborate on a product in the future, but there’s nothing on the books to do anything in this area for now.
For its new product lines, Janji focuses on a different region of the world. The company works with local artists to help design the product line and nonprofits to build clean water projects. The brand’s West Indies collection debuted today.
Spandorfer said he hopes other mission-driven brands see the partnership between Janji and Oiselle and consider it as a potential opportunity for them to emulate.
“We hope to see more of it because I think the world needs more mission-driven brands who are there to support each other,” Spandorfer said. “Hopefully this will inspire more and more mission-driven brands to collaborate, come together and make the world a better place through whatever it is that they’re doing.”
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