Consumer-focused fund IRIS and Gap Inc.’s performance lifestyle brand Athleta have led an $8 million Series A funding round for startup sneaker and lifestyle company Saysh. Other investors in the funding round include the 50-percent female early-stage team at Redpoint Ventures, a venture capitalist that has successfully invested in companies such as Netflix and Sonos, and Springbank Collective, an early-stage investor in infrastructure for working women and their families, which brought together a group of valuable angel investors to back Saysh through a Special Purpose Vehicle.
Saysh, a community-focused lifestyle brand for women founded in the summer of 2021 by Olympian Allyson Felix and her brother Wes Felix, will use the funding to expand its e-commerce, wholesale and community-based retail operations, which the founders see as a significant growth opportunity. The investment will also support an expanded product offering and the launch of several new activity-specific sneakers. The company said that various ideas and concepts have already been successfully tested through the brand’s existing platform to further develop its product portfolio.
The Saysh One, “the first women’s athletics sneaker to be built from the sole up for a woman’s foot,” is the company’s first product to strive for gender equality. In line with this mission, Saysh sought women-led funding for its Series A round. IRIS Ventures, the advisor to IRIS Fund I FCRE, led the round as a specialized consumer fund that focuses on categories where women are the majority of end-users, such as health, wellness, beauty and education.
Athleta, a performance lifestyle brand that champions women, will continue its partnership with Allyson Felix, now as an investor in Saysh. Athleta’s investment was brokered by Gap Inc.’s Strategic Growth Office (SGO), a company unit that looks for opportunities to spur growth and accelerate new capabilities across its brand portfolio. As part of the investment, Gap Inc. has acquired an equity stake in Saysh, and Athleta has partnered to feature the brand’s footwear on Athleta.com. The partnership between Felix and Athleta began when she became their first sponsored athlete in 2019. In June 2021, shortly after the launch of Saysh, they partnered to offer a collection of athletic apparel and feature an exclusive version of the Saysh One in rose on Athleta.com. That same year, Athleta and Felix co-founded The Power of She Fund: Child Care Grants. This unique grant program provided $200,000 to fund child care expenses for professional women athletes traveling to compete, including six participants in the Tokyo Olympics.
Allyson Felix, a longtime sponsored athlete, decided to leave Nike after the company tried to cut her salary while pregnant with her first child. When she was forced to choose between being a mother and a professional athlete, Saysh was born. Saysh continues to advocate for better maternity leave for female athletes and working mothers, as well as better access to healthcare for black mothers. Saysh’s vision, the company says, is a future where inequality is undermined by female creativity and athleticism. The Series A funding round and a recently announced unique Maternity Returns Policy further support this vision.
