OROS, a Cincinnati-born apparel company that employs NASA tech in its outwear, will move from the Queen City to Portland, Ore. in June, the Portland Business Journal reports.
The company, which was established in 2013 by Rithvik Venna and Michael Markesbery (two Miami University students at the time) has leased a 5,400 square-foot building in Portland and has plans to grow its team there from "around a dozen" to 20.
Markesbery said the move to Oregon was in an effort to "take advantage of Portland's robust athletic and apparel industry and the region's numerous outdoor opportunities," the report states, reminding readers that the city is home to Nike, Adidas and Columbia Sportswear, among other similar companies.
The move follows an October 2018 fundraise that brought the company $5 million. Chicago’s Listen Ventures, Columbus’ NCT Ventures and Boulder’s Break Trail Ventures, as well as serial entrepreneur Patrick O’Brien, Eric Dobkin, Misfit Wearables founder Sonny Vu (who also serves as an adviser to the company) and James Ryan all participated in the round.
This isn’t the first accomplishment for the team, which initially launched Oros with a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign that brought in $360,788 in 2016. Markesbery and Venna were named on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list, raised $4 million over three funding rounds, had their product featured on Mashable, Runner’s World and Digital Trends (among other media outlets) and were featured in Cincy Inno’s 25 Under 25 list.
“Outerwear apparel is a sea of sameness, where brands are all using the same materials and technologies to make the same products,” Markesbery said in a previous Cincy Inno profile on the company. “We’re bringing something truly different to the table: We’re using NASA-inspired insulation to deliver an amazing piece of gear.”
OROS follows another Cincy company announcing a similar move; in January, SoLo Funds, a peer-to-peer lending platform also born in the Queen City, relocated to Los Angeles. It was in an effort to take advantage of other financial entities on the West Coast.
Additionally, Markesbery was profiled in 2017 Forbes-published piece titled, "Why Ohio Is The Best State In America To Launch A Startup." He specifically cited Cincinnati's startup ecosystem and its powerful mentoring network.
"We had no idea how to run a business," he said in the report. "We had a great idea, an exclusive technology and a product but we had to rely heavily on our advisory board and mentors in the early stages. We still do today. We still talk to most of them weekly and they're always willing to share their thoughts and time. We wouldn't be where we are without them."
