This is this Black-owned business that is reaching for greater funding opportunities with Nike and Lululemon.
Lanny Smith’s ambition has always been to start his own athleisure company, and that opportunity came when the pandemic hit. The Black-owned business he started took off and gave him the necessary footing that he needed to make a lasting difference.
Smith, who happens to be a former NBA player, has just recently closed a $7 million Series A investment round that values his Black-owned athleisure company $30 million. Smith says that his business is a “mission-based brand”, one that sells (tights for $65, shorts for $45).
The Series A round of funding that Smith’s company secured includes investments from Richelieu Dennis, who is the founder of the New Voices Fund. There is also the co-founder and CEO of Sundial Brands, and Kwame Anku, the CEO of the $12 million Black Star Fund.
The process involves Anku investing $1.25 million in the Series A round and had previously invested $100,000 in startup capital. All of the funding received has also helped the company to be able to create access to other opportunities that the funding has oped up to them.
Smith believes in creating access to joint opportunities for those who are looking to collaborate and create business opportunities, especially in the minority-owned business space.