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Pregnant CEO s rule for raising money: Investors who doubt her abilities get cut By Aimee Picchi Alexis Ohanian on paid family leave
Joanna Griffiths was in her third trimester of her pregnancy with twins as she began meeting with potential investors in her intimate wear company, Knix Wear. The entrepreneur had one rule: She wouldn t take money from anyone who questioned her ability to lead the fast-growing startup either during her pregnancy or after she became a mom.
That litmus test didn t hurt her ability to find investors. Griffiths said she ended up raising about $40 million, topping her initial goal of $25 million to $30 million in new funding. Griffiths told CBS MoneyWatch that she came up with the exclusion because she wanted financial backers who share her values about women s empowerment, a theme that is a cornerstone of Knix, which features models of all shapes and stages of life ranging from pregnant women to older women.
DTC bra brand Cuup on Thursday launched its first category expansion into swimwear.
The swim line, which was two years in the making, will come in 53 bra sizes from 30A to 42F and seven bottom sizes in XS to XXXL, according to details emailed to Retail Dive. To ensure an accurate fit, the brand conducted more than 100 fittings on 25 different women s bodies over the course of 20 months.
The collection includes three bikini tops for $98 each and three bikini bottoms for $68 each, available in black, green, brown, red and white.
Dive Insight:
The expansion into swimwear marked Cuup s first new product category since launching in 2018.
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Pic: Knix Wear TZP Group, a private equity firm, has announced that it has led the Series B of Knix Wear, a leading direct-to-consumer intimate apparel brand, with participation from existing Knix investors, including Acton Capital, and alongside new investor, supermodel and entrepreneur Ashley Graham. The Canada-based brand was launched by Joanna Griffiths in 2013.
Knix has been reinventing the intimatewear category by combining performance, technology, and design to make beautiful and functional products that serve their customers. While Knix is a pioneer of leakproof underwear, the brand has long since become a player to be reckoned with in the intimatewear category with product innovation that spans across wireless bras, sports bras, swim, lounge, shapewear, maternity as well as their teen brand, KT by Knix.
New research led by LSU alumna Joanna Griffiths of Portland, Oregon, and her faculty adviser, LSU Department of Biological Sciences Associate Professor Morgan Kelly, sheds light on why some oysters are more resistant to freshwater than others. Their results, which were released this week, significantly affect this commercially valuable marine species.