Denver-based Truewerk Inc. has completed an $18.18 million capital raise and is eyeing further growth over the next year.
The company started the latest funding round in March. The raise was led by private equity firm Stride Consumer Partners. About $3 million of the total was in shares distributed upon the execution of convertible debt the company had already issued, which means that portion doesn’t represent a direct increase in the company’s cash position, said CEO Brian Ciciora.
Truewerk produces and sells performance work apparel targeted at people working in the trades.
“We’re a fast-growing consumer brand,” Ciciora said. “We’re focused on continuing to grow the business and continuing to impact the community and the market that we serve.”
The company is planning to spend the funding on growth. Some of it will expand the company’s product inventory to keep up with demand, some will be spent on Truewerk’s marketing efforts and some will fund research and development of new products, Ciciora said.
“We design, develop and produce our own technical fabric,” Ciciora said. “So there’s a lot of work that will continue to go to research and development of both the fabrics as well as the garment technology.”
Ciciora also sees opportunities to expand his company’s presence in the direct-to-business market. The company has already put a lot of work into places like its website and Amazon storefront where its customers are generally the people who will wear its products. Ciciora now sees expanding demand from businesses that want higher performance apparel for their employees than their uniforms provide, and his company has the ability to meet that demand, he said.
The company could also potentially bring some of the logistical work handled right now by a third party into its direct operations, Ciciora said, though that will depend on how the company evolves.
Truewerk employs somewhere around 25 people now, and that number might rise to about 35 in the next year or so, though Ciciora emphasized that those are broad, estimated numbers.
As the company follows through on these growth plans, it could make some changes to its footprint in the Denver area, Ciciora said. The company’s headquarters right now are located at 7010 Broadway, north of the city center.
“With a growing business, growing headcount and growing operational needs, we’re going to have to keep evaluating our footprint and real estate demand,” Ciciora said. “Almost without question, there will be some movement over the next 12 to 24 months.”
Truewerk is one of many companies to have benefitted from increasing capital availability to Denver-area startups in recent years. While equity funding for private ventures in the Denver area moderated somewhat in the first quarter, it still has a lot of momentum coming out of a record-shattering 2021.
