St. Louis-based clothing brand Summersalt just raised $17.3 million in Series B funding and its founder and CEO said the company's goal is to "provide joy in all of our products."
The company, which launched in 2017 with a line of direct-to-consumer swimwear, uses recycled materials in its popular $95 swimsuits.
"We would never say never [about partnering with a company like Walmart or Amazon] but really the roadmap moving forward is to speak directly to our consumers, cut out the middle-man, and offer a better product for a better price," CEO Lori Coulter told Cheddar. Coulter, a former design professor and swimwear designer, founded Summersalt with marketing and brand consultant Reshma Chattaram Chamberlin.
Summersalt's second round of funding was led by Utah-based venture capital firm Mercato Partners. It last raised $8 million in April in a Series A round and is backed by firms including Founders Fund and Lewis and Clark Ventures.
"We're super excited about the funding," Coulter said. "The main thing we're doing is to continue to deliver on our promise to provide joy in all of our products, to infuse joy in all of our products that we're expanding to."
Since its launch with swimwear, Summersalt has expanded to travel-wear and sleepwear. Chattaram Chamberlin said in a press release "from the moment we launched Summersalt our goal was to own every corner of our customer's suitcase and with this latest round of funding we are one step closer to this."
Spain's government has fined Airbnb 64 million euros or $75 million for advertising unlicensed tourist rentals. The consumer rights ministry announced the fine on Monday. The ministry stated that many listings lacked proper license numbers or included incorrect information. The move is part of Spain's ongoing efforts to regulate short-term rental companies amid a housing affordability crisis especially in popular urban areas. The ministry ordered Airbnb in May to remove around 65,000 listings for similar violations. The government's consumer rights minister emphasized the impact on families struggling with housing. Airbnb said it plans to challenge the fine in court.
Roomba maker iRobot has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but says that it doesn’t expect any disruptions to devices as the more than 30-year-old company is taken private under a restructuring process. iRobot said that it is being acquired by Picea through a court-supervised process. Picea is the company's primary contract manufacturer. The Bedford, Massachusetts-based anticipates completing the prepackaged chapter 11 process by February.
Serbia’s prosecutor for organized crime has charged a government minister and three others with abuse of position and falsifying of documents related to a luxury real estate project linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The charges came on Monday. The investigation centers on a controversy over a a bombed-out military complex in central Belgrade that was a protected cultural heritage zone but that is facing redevelopment as a luxury compound by a company linked to Kushner. The $500 million proposal to build a high-rise hotel, offices and shops at the site has met fierce opposition from experts at home and abroad. Selakovic and others allegedly illegally lifted the protection status for the site by falsifying documentation.
Wealthfront’s CFO Alan Iberman talks the $2.05B IPO and the major moment for robo banking as the company bets on AI, automation, and “self-driving money."
