brrr° Chosen to Present at Venture Atlanta 2018
Venture Atlanta is the Southeast’s leading tech investor event,
with more than $2.6 billion in funding awarded to date.
brrr° has been chosen out of more than 1,000 applicants to be one of the 34 rising star technology companies in the Southeast that will present on stage at Venture Atlanta 2018.
The 11th annual Venture Atlanta, the Southeast’s premier event for connecting technology innovators and investment capital, will be held October 16-17 in downtown Atlanta. With more than 140 funds represented and 900 technology entrepreneurs expected to attend, this year’s Venture Atlanta is on track to be the largest yet.
brrr° will share the stage with other technology innovators as well as expert speakers including keynotes delivered by former NetSuite CEO Zach Nelson and former FireEye and McAfee CEO Dave DeWalt.
“We are thrilled to be chosen to present at Venture Atlanta as we introduce investors to brrr°’s growth story as a disruptive innovator in smart fabric technology,” said Mary-Cathryn Kolb, Founder and CEO of brrr°.
brrr° has developed cooling fabric technology that combines natural minerals with active wicking and rapid drying to create a “Triple Chill Effect” that draws heat away from the skin and won’t ever fade or wash out. Its patent-pending technology is tested by globally recognized independent labs and outperforms other leading brands.
Atlanta-based brrr° was chosen to be one of 34 presenting companies from a large pool of applicants to represent the region’s most innovative technology businesses, which builds upon brrr°’s inclusion in the “Startup Showcase” at the Venture Atlanta 2017 conference.
“For eleven years, Venture Atlanta has been connecting the Southeast’s best and brightest innovators with top-tier investors,” said Allyson Eman, executive director of Venture Atlanta. “This year, we’re thrilled to be showcasing the strongest and largest roster yet of both early and venture-stage companies. These companies reflect the incredible pool of talented people, and continued opportunities for growth and innovation.”
During the two-day Venture Atlanta event, presenting companies and conference attendees will engage with regional and national venture capitalists, investors and other key players in the current technology landscape.
The conference results in funding, national investor exposure and invaluable relationship building with successful technology executives. Tech Square Labs will return as the event’s premier sponsor, and the conference kicks off with Techstars Atlanta 2018 Demo Day in partnership with Cox Enterprises.
About Venture Atlanta
Venture Atlanta connects the Southeast’s most promising tech companies and entrepreneurs with top-tier local and national venture capitalists, bankers, angel investors and others who can help them raise the capital they need to grow their businesses. Now in its 11th year, Venture Atlanta is an annual nonprofit event that is a collaboration between three leading Georgia business organizations: Atlanta CEO Council, Metro Atlanta Chamber and the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG). For more information, please visit www.ventureatlanta.org.
About brrr°
brrr° was founded in 2014 to develop technologically advanced fabrics with superior cooling performance to improve the items we touch in our everyday lives. brrr° enhances the comfort of business clothing, casual clothing, athletic apparel, denim, uniforms, sheets, and other textiles. The privately held Atlanta-based company is led by Founder and CEO Mary-Cathryn Kolb, who previously held senior positions at Spanx, Seven Jeans, TOMS Shoes and Von Dutch. For more information, please visit www.brrr.com.
brrr° CEO Mary-Cathryn Kolb Named Small Business Person of the Year by the Atlanta Business Chronicle
We are honored and humbled to share the exciting news that brrr° Founder and CEO Mary-Cathryn Kolb was named Small Business Person of the Year by the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
Kolb was chosen as the winner in the Emerging Entrepreneur category, which recognizes the leaders of fast-growing businesses that are three to seven years old. The award was announced today at an event at the Atlanta Botanical Garden that was attended by business leaders and entrepreneurs from across the metro Atlanta area.
The other finalists in the Emerging Entrepreneur category were Annie Eaton, CEO of augmented reality technology services firm Futurus, and Joseph Corona, President of interior general contracting firm Cornerstone Contracting Group, Inc.
“It is such a privilege to be recognized for the hard work we’ve put into growing brrr° into a leader of cooling fabric technology,” Kolb said. “To stand alongside such inspiring leaders like Annie and Joseph is a tremendous honor, and we thank the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s editors and the panel of judges for their vote of confidence in our strategy.”
Q&A with Mary-Cathryn Kolb, 2018 Small Business Person of the Year Finalist
Atlanta Business Chronicle has named our finalists for the 2018 Small Business Person of the Year Awards. The winners are scheduled to be announced at an awards event Sept. 20 at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Here’s a Q&A with one of the finalists, Mary-Cathryn Kolb, founder and CEO, brrr.
Q: What strategies can small business owners use to build success in their companies from the start?
A: Starting a company from scratch is incredibly hard, and you have got to have a very large and very dedicated support system, or you’ll be toast. It’s not exactly a 9-to-5 job. There are days I have to set an alarm for 2 a.m. so I can talk to our team in Taiwan before their day ends, and I spend a lot of time in airports and on planes to meet with customers and partners.
It’s critical that you hire smart, dedicated employees who believe in your vision and will roll up their sleeves and put in the long hours and do the heavy lifting to bring your idea to life. You have to have good advisors who will share their business knowledge and professional experiences, and investors who believe in your business model and your strategy.
Q: What was the best piece of advice you took when starting your business? What advice did you disregard, if any?
A: One of the best pieces of advice someone gave me was to be strategic in creating a board of directors, because they are very much an extension of your management team and they will bring powerful insights that you wouldn’t otherwise get. They’re both insiders and outsiders, and that’s a valuable combination. Our board includes a capital markets director at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, the former CFO of a major telecom company and the former CEO of a department store chain, and each of them brings unique insight and perspective to our business.
I can’t think of any specific advice I disregarded completely, because everything that someone shared came from a place of sincerity and it was an important lesson or insight for them that they were trying to give to me. Some things might not have been very applicable for my particular situation, but every bit of wisdom has merit on some level and I am grateful for all of it.
Q: What would you share with an aspiring entrepreneur who is considering taking the plunge and starting their own business?
Take advantage of the network you have, and seek advice from friends, former colleagues, neighbors and anyone whose opinions and wisdom you trust and admire. People will bend over backward to help you, make an introduction or open a door if you are humble and if you make an effort to give back or pay it forward. There is enormous power in that.
Q: How does metro Atlanta support the formation of small businesses?
I can’t imagine having started brrr° anywhere other than Atlanta. There is such a culture of innovation and creativity and finding better ways to solve challenges, and there is an incredibly deep talent pool. The city and the region are very pro-business and supportive of entrepreneurs, and there are great networking opportunities with organizations such as Launchpad2X and the Technology Association of Georgia.
Q: What can the region do better to help support small businesses?
For as many startups as there are in Atlanta, there should be a more robust investment community based here to provide capital and seed funding to get these young businesses off the ground. I would love to see the investment community double or triple for the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Find the article here: Atlanta Business Chronicle
Venture Atlanta Announces brrrº as First Presenting Company at VA 2018
Venture Atlanta is proud to announce that brrrº is the first company to be selected to present on the Venture Atlanta 2018 stage. A textile technology startup in Atlanta, brrrº was founded by Mary-Cathryn Kolb, who secured the company’s spot on the Venture Atlanta stage as a part of the prize for winning today’s launchpad2X pitch competition.
Launchpad2X was created by Bernie Dixon to empower the female entrepreneurship community. Bernie has been on a mission to close the gender gap when it comes to venture capital funding, and in partnership with Venture Atlanta, she launched today’s pitch competition for women-owned businesses. We’re proud to award Mary-Cathryn and the rest of the brrrº team this opportunity to step into the spotlight at Venture Atlanta.
After the event, we sat down with Mary-Cathryn to hear about her experience as a female entrepreneur, starting and growing brrrº, and being a part of the launchpad2X and Venture Atlanta community.
What was the inspiration for brrrº, and what was the “aha” moment where you felt this could be a successful business concept?
I’ve always been passionate about fashion, and my previous work experience was in the fashion industry. But I’ve also always had a creative and inventive mind and an interest in technology. When I saw that there was an opportunity to have a career that married the two, I knew that’s what I wanted to do.
In terms of the “aha” moment, this goes back to my first few roles. I was either a founder or an early hire at each of my previous jobs. When you’re one of the first members of a company, you automatically assume a client-facing role, and when speaking with these customers, I learned a lot about what they need and expect from their clothing.
This led me to the cooling concept. It at first appeared to be a very saturated market — a lot of companies claim to do cooling but their fabrics really just whisk away moisture. There wasn’t anything out there that offered a “true” cooling technology. When I saw the demand for it, I decided I was going to be the one to satisfy the need by introducing a technology that authentically disrupted the market.
How were you introduced to launchpad2X and Venture Atlanta?
When I first came to Atlanta, I was introduced to Bernie through a mutual friend. Launchpad2X is an incredible organization to be a part of, and basically, everything good that has happened to my company somehow ties back to them. In fact, it was through launchpad2X that I met Allyson – Executive Director of Venture Atlanta. She encouraged me to apply for the showcase at last year’s conference and it was such a great experience. I received the funding that I needed, and now I’m able to pitch on stage at this year’s event. It’s just amazing.
Historically, we’ve received very few company applications from female leaders for Venture Atlanta. What would you say to encourage other female entrepreneurs to put themselves out there?
Do it. Even if you don’t feel 100% ready, you just have to go for it. There’s so much help available. Plus, the entrepreneurial community is especially good about paying it forward, with people who have gone through every phase of the journey always willing to lend a hand to those who are just beginning theirs.
LaunchPad2X from Kellie Taylor on Vimeo.
Register today for Venture Atlanta 2018 to see brrrº and other top emerging tech companies of the southeast. Interested in getting your company on Venture Atlanta stage or presenting in the Showcase? Apply here.
Article from Venture Atlanta
brrrº is the Latest and Greatest at Shows
Conferences and tradeshows are valuable tools for connecting with prospective customers and raising your profile among peers and influencers.
Shows are a great way to gain insights on market trends and what competitors are doing, pick up new knowledge from presentations from experts in your field and network with partners and vendors.
These shows have helped brrrº connect with prospective customers and get our name out there. We often hear things like “Wow! This fabric feels really cool” and “How can I get some of this?” brrrº has exhibited at shows including TexWorld in New York City, the PGA show in Orlando and Techtextil North America in Atlanta.
In the coming months you can find us at these shows:
- Functional Fabric Fair powered by Performance Days in New York City, July 23-24
- Outdoor Retailer in Denver, July 23-26
This is the first year that the Functional Fabric Fair will be in the United States, and we’re very excited to be a part of it (we’ll be in booth #123). The show is organized by Performance Days, a huge show in Munich, Germany. Our brilliant material scientist, Apurba Banerjee, will give a presentation called “Don't Sweat It! Cooling Fabric Makes Fashion Functional."
We’re also looking forward to Outdoor Retailer, the world’s leading business-to-business outdoor sports show. This a must-attend event that features apparel makers, shoe makers, backpack companies, pet products, nutrition, hiking and camping gear and much more. You can find us in booth 6036-LL.
brrrº works with companies big and small to improve the fabrics we touch in our everyday lives. Our Triple Chill Effect™ includes cooling minerals, active wicking and rapid drying for all-day comfort. The cooling properties of brrrº’s textiles are tested by independent, internationally recognized testing labs.
brrrº has solidified its reputation in the textile industry as a leading developer of innovative cooling blends including cotton, nylon, polyester, denim, rayon and spandex.
We hope to see you at an upcoming show so we can tell you more about how brrr° is proven to keep you cooler.
Look How Far Sports Fabrics Have Come
Series: Sports Fabric, Part 2: Evolution
Nearly a century ago, sports and athletics took off. No longer a niche interest of a small slice of the population, sports became a more common interest among middle- and upper-class participants who could also afford to spend money on clothing and equipment.
They quickly found the fabrics to be lacking.
Women were relegated to long cotton or wool skirts for exercise, and a few bold women wore “knickers” that were like half-pants that buttoned just below the knee. Men wore baggy pants, socks, and sweaters.
Imagine going to yoga class in a wool skirt or playing a pick-up game of basketball in heavy cotton jerseys. Fabrics of the 1920s were very heavy, trapped heat and sweat and didn’t allow for much airflow.
Today, athletic fabrics and athleisure clothing have been transformed by technology, with new materials and advanced manufacturing methods that allow fabrics to wick away sweat, boost airflow and even cool our skin.
Fabric innovators and manufacturers have also made great progress in tailoring fabrics to specific activities, such as:
- Sports fabrics. These tend to be much lighter and have greater wicking, which allows people to move more freely and perform better.
- Yoga and athleisure clothes. These typically have more stretch, and fashion-forward design that transitions from the gym to running errands or everyday life.
- Long-distance running apparel. There are usually fewer seams to reduce chafing, and more pockets to store energy gel, earbuds, and other race essentials.
- Winter sports. These clothes tend to have lightweight insulation and are designed to be worn in layers for the athlete to add or remove clothes depending on their exertion.
Moisture wicking is a common feature across all sports fabrics because it helps regulate body temperature and increases comfort. These fabrics work by moving sweat away from the body to the fabric’s outer layer where it can evaporate faster. That’s a big leap from a century ago when cotton and wool trapped heat and wetness against the skin.
brrrº goes beyond moisture wicking. We integrate better airflow patterns and natural cooling minerals embedded right in the yarn to create a “Triple Chill Effect” that is instant permanent. brrr°’s cooling effects won’t ever fade or wash out because, unlike some brands that spray or coat their fabrics, our technology is in the fabric itself.
Find out how brrr° can keep you cool and comfortable so you can perform your best. You can reach us here.
Why Athleisure is Here to Stay
Series: Sport Fabric, Part 1: The Staying Power of Athleisure
Athleisure took the apparel industry by storm in 2010, and some critics said the casual clothing style was probably a passing fad. They couldn’t have been more wrong.
Athleisure is now a lifestyle brand and an entire category of its own. It’s the new casual and has gone both more upscale and more downscale -- from $200 performance sports bras to distressed sweatpants.
Beyond the gym and weekend errand running, athleisure clothes can even be spotted
at the office with stretchy slacks made of the same material as yoga pants, or bras that transition from daytime wear to spin class.
Athleisure clothes have broadened beyond tracksuits and sweatpants to now include leggings, joggers, shirts, sports bras, tops and tennis dresses.
Women are wearing nicer-looking yoga pants and leggings to the office underneath dresses and tunics -- and then keeping those same pants on for a hot yoga class after work.
Men are buying compression pants to wear under athletic shorts for additional warmth or support, and some are ditching baggy sweatpants in favor of more flattering and form-fitting running pants or basketball pants. Some men have swapped out traditional cotton undershirts for compression shirts that wick away sweat better and keep them cool and dry.
In addition to comfort and aesthetics, many consumers choose athleisure clothes for their technologically advanced fibers that wick away sweat, improve airflow and breathability, reduce odor and protect from harmful UV rays.
To be sure, athleisure clothes haven’t replaced activewear and sportswear, which tend to be tighter fitting and offer more support for intense exercise and movement.
They have influenced design, and many sports brands have migrated toward a more multi-purpose look that can transition from gym to grocery store to brunch with a friend.
We love seeing this trend evolve, and we’re proud to be an influencer of the next generation of athleisure wear.
Better with brrrº
brrrº’s technology can be incorporated in both athleisure and sportswear and has unique lab-tested cooling properties that make clothes perform better. With natural cooling minerals embedded right in the yarn, plus proprietary wicking and airflow technology, brrr° fabrics create a Triple Chill Effect that keeps you cool when life brings the heat.
“brrrº” It’s Cold in Here, It Must be our Fabric in the Atmosphere
Grab a jacket, we are going into the Triple Chill Effect, the power behind brrrº’s technology.
The science behind brrrº's permanent cooling is three-fold called the Triple Chill Effect. The permanently cooling technology is a multifold effect consisting of patented natural cooling minerals that are extruded in the core of the fibers. The minerals undergo a reversible endothermic reaction, triggered by body heat.
This cooling is enhanced by the passage of air through the fabric and the air flow is enhanced due to the patented fabric weave and knit structure. The larger pore size in the fabric facilitates and amplifies the cooling effect via air permeability.
The fiber cross-sections allow for better wicking leading to good thermal effusivity. The moisture-wicking capability and quick dry nature of the fabric pulls away the sweat and accelerates the cooling provided by the fabric. brrrº fabrics are proven to not only cool instantaneously but also permanently over time. This cool will never wash away.
The Triple Chill Effect is proven that it works for you all day, every day. Our fabrics go through rigorous testing by global textile labs, we have scientifically proven that brrr° keeps you cooler. Click this link now:https://brrr.com/proven/
Texworld 2018 Recap
New York City is known to be the city that never sleeps and that is reflected in brrrº’s trip to the TexWorld conference. On the first day, brrrº was pleased with how many people were truly interested in our technology. Once the crowds came and felt our fabrics, especially some of our new innovative fabrics they were really hooked.
The response to brrrº was incredible; everyone had a positive response to our technology. They understood brrrº and our technology, as well as asked questions about it to further their knowledge. They were definitely more curious once they felt the coolness of our fabric. The best response was from a CEO of a clothing line company shrieking at a lady, “this really works!”
Our material scientist, Apurba said her favorite part of the show was “interacting with both big and small businesses in a single show. It is a rare case when an EXPO can provide a holistic experience. We attracted everyone from wholesale buyers, product developers, to entrepreneurs and fashion designers.”
With the show’s atmosphere reflecting New York City, it was full of busy and professional individuals. It was definitely worth our time being there. The positive response from our audience was unbelievable. The trust people showed in our proven technology was special. Here’s to our first conference show and many more!
MC Interviewed with Fibre2Fashion
Time for technology to disrupt textiles
Atlanta-based private start-up brrr° was founded in 2014 to develop advanced fabrics with superior cooling performance. It is one of the 16 start-ups chosen to showcase its patented fabrics at the 10th annual Venture Atlanta investor conference and innovation showcase in October this year. The company uses a proprietary blend of natural cooling minerals embedded in yarn, superior moisture wicking and a patented knitting process that maximises airflow to create a 'triple chill effect'. Its Qmax fabrics cool 30-85 per cent better than comparable 'virgin' nylon, polyester or cotton. Founder-CEO, Mary-Cathryn Kolb, who earlier held senior positions at Spanx, Seven7 Jeans, TOMS Shoes and Von Dutch, speaks to Dipesh Satpathy about the company.
Q: Tell us briefly about your company and its evolution. What was the motivation behind starting it?
A: In 2014, brrr° grew from the idea of "clothes that make you feel cooler, not warmer." The motivation behind the idea was asking how to disrupt the fashion industry with something new and cool. People wear clothing to wrap up and warm up, so the concept was doing just that, but with a cooling technology. brrr° incorporates technologically-advanced fabrics with superior cooling performance that can enhance the comfort of bed sheets, apparel, denim, undergarments and other textiles.
Q: What is the significance of the name brrr with a degree symbol suffix?
A:Ours is a cooling fabric that wants to be recognized with a unique brand name. When you think of the word 'brrr', you instantly think of words like cold, cool or chill. The degree symbol represents that our fabrics will reduce your skin temperature by 2-3° Fahrenheit.
Q: How are you different from other players in the field? What is your USP?
A: Our technology has three unique cooling effects that combine to immediately and continually reduce skin temperature: embedded natural minerals that permanently draw heat away and bring an immediate cooling sensation, a special fibre core that enhances moisture wicking, and a proprietary fabric pattern to maximise airflow to boost cooling.
Q: What are some of the cutting-edge research efforts being undertaken and products developed by your company?
A: We recently produced the first known king-size, seamless sheets with our cooling technology. We are now working on denim and fabric for the automotive industry.
Q: Do you collaborate with government universities or private research institutions?
A: We have a partnership with Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA), a non-profit institute with its headquarters near the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). We also collaborate with the Hohenstein Institute in Boennigheim, Germany, an accredited test laboratory and research institute. We just sent fabric headers to be featured in New York-based Material ConneXion, which maintains the world's largest subscription-based materials library with thousands of innovative materials and processes. We have also sent fabric headers to be a part of the Penn Libraries' Fisher Fine Arts Library at University of Pennsylvania.
Q: Are there any patents that your company has been granted on technologies or processes related to fabrics and textiles?
A:We have four patents pending.
Q: Please tell us about your prominent research brains who help propel growth.
A: We have a brilliant material scientist, Apurba Banerjee. She is doctoral candidate at the University of Georgia in polymer, fibre and textile sciences. She received her Masters in textile science from Colorado State University and completed her Bachelor's degree from the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai. Apurba focuses on driving new innovations and research and development of cooling technology for brrr°. We also have garment industry expert Newbery Su running our Taiwan office. He coordinates design and manufacturing of brrr° fabric for all licensing partners and development of new applications for the patented technology.
Q: What is the significance of your Taiwan office? And why Taiwan?
A: We wanted our presence in the hub of textile technology and engineering, which Taiwan is. Having a staff there allows for boots on the ground for daily quality control of current production and the execution of our research and development pipeline.
Q: What are your expansion plans?
A: We want to continue to innovate smart textiles and let Brrr° turn a leader in the textile revolution.
Q: How do you see the applications of advanced textiles growing in the next decade?
A: In the last decade, technology has exponentially improved our lives while our textiles remained virtually unchanged from the beginning of time. Cottons are still your cottons, linens are still your linens. It's now time for technology to disrupt our textiles by making fashion smart and functional.
