As Dylan Cross plopped down in a chair inside a quiet conference room on June 8, a celebration carried on outside.
Attendees throughout the Groundswell startup incubator in Melbourne drank beer, chowed down on food and took pictures with a life-size inflatable alien at a small launch party for the Kickstarter campaign of Cross’ company, Sea Threads LLC. The campaign took pre-orders for the Space Coast startup’s long-sleeve performance shirts made from plastic dumped into the ocean. The goal was to raise $10,000 eventually and get the production of the shirts off the ground.
Sea Threads eclipsed the $10,000-mark before the end of the two-hour event.
While the event was a successful, celebratory occasion for the company, Cross said he was glad to sit for a moment inside the silent conference room. The founder of Sea Threads estimated he got a maximum of four hours of sleep a night the previous month as he worked to ensure a successful Kickstarter campaign launch. The company easily beat its goal, but Cross is not ready to relax.
“A lot of people might think, ‘At this point, Dylan is sitting back,'" Cross said. "But for this coming month, it’s going to be about how we can increase our raise. We’re on the verge of $10,000. I want to at least raise $100,000.”
He has more plans for Sea Threads beyond the launch of the shirts. Sea Threads will roll out at least two more products before the end of 2022, with new styles and cuts of shirts planned, he said. Board shorts, towels and leggings all are planned, too.
Cross assembled a supply chain that takes plastic scooped from the ocean off the coast of Indonesia to multiple stops around the world before shirts are printed in Orlando. Unveiling new types of clothing won’t require major changes to the supply chain, Cross said. Meanwhile, Cross plans to bring the full supply chain to Brevard County eventually.
Of course, the company of two employees is just getting started. The company is a member of Groundswell, which supports Sea Threads and other Space Coast startups with physical space, mentorship, industry connections and other resources. Sea Threads is outside the realm of the type of company a typical tech-focused startup incubator may work with, said Groundswell Executive Director Jarin Eisenberg. However, the incubator maintains plenty of operational freedom due to practices such as not taking equity in its member companies or relying on government grants. “We’ve embraced a diversification of who we work with.”
Cross launched Melbourne-based Sea Threads in 2020 after he graduated from Florida Institute of Technology. A one-time marine biology major, ocean cleanup is important to Cross. That is why Sea Threads made it this far, and why Cross is confident it will continue to grow, he said.
“A piece of advice for anyone who would want to start a business is make sure it’s something you love. It has to be something you love enough that you’re willing to sacrifice spending time with friends and family.”
Sign up here for The Beat, Orlando Inno’s free newsletter. And be sure to follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
