Poler Inc. continued to turn heads last week by raising $4.5 million in equity capital from “a large international strategic investor” with the help from Seattle-based Cascadia Capital LLC.
The Portland, OR-based Company, which does business as Polar Outdoor Stuff, has impressed many in an industry looking for ways to resonate with Millennials, the generation born during the 1980s and 1990s.
“There is a shifting consumer preference being led by Millennials seeking to purchase unique and unconventional products or brands they have a personal connection with,” said John C. Siegler, a managing director who heads Cascadia consumer and retail practice. “Poler is leading a change in the outdoor market away from overly technical products and stodgy brands, towards well-designed, innovative and creative products that are on-trend, functional and at the right price point.
This investment will not only allow Poler to accelerate growth, but will broaden distribution internationally as well as allow management to continue to invest in the product design demanded by and useful to today’s users.” Completing the company’s first institutional funding round is a game changer for the young brand, according to Poler executives.
“We found a strategic investor that provides Poler with enhanced international distribution, a strong balance sheet and supports our creative sense of design that will allow Poler to continue to change the outdoor industry,” said Benji Wagner, Poler founder and creative director.
Poler is the latest transaction for Cascadia Capital's Consumer and Retail practice, which also recently completed growth equity financings of Seattle-based MOD Pizza and Rudy’s Barbershop, the sale of Manna Pro and the acquisition of Pet360 by PetSmart.
