Atlanta startup gets funding to help make clothes cool — literally

An Atlanta company that makes fabrics to keep people cool is suddenly hot among investors.

Textile company brrr°, a maker of yarns and fabrics with cooling properties that other brands use to make clothes to help people beat the heat, said Thursday it has raised more than $6 million in Series B funding to expand its footprint. Founded in 2014, the company's home base is in Buckhead, where CEO and Founder Mary-Catheryn Kolb said the city's muggy weather works to their advantage.

"It's a really good test lab, that's for sure," she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Kolb, a former executive at the popular Atlanta-based shapewear company Spanx, said the financial support and a recent partnership with brand management firm DC Designs International will help quickly grow brrr°'s presence.

"We are hyper-focused on becoming a global company," she said.

Credit: Courtesy of brrr°

The fabrics designed by brrr° combine cooling minerals, active wicking and rapid drying techniques to draw heat and moisture away from the skin. Kolb said her products, which are tested and developed in Taiwan, are shown to drop a wearer's skin temperature up to three degrees Fahrenheit.

The company doesn't make clothing for retail sale and instead partners with dozens of other brands to incorporate its yarns and woven fabrics into their products. Those collaborations include athletic gear for Reebok and Adidas, golf clothing for Greyson and casual wear for brands such as Vineyard Vines and Lilly Pulitzer.

Kolb said her company has grown to roughly 30 employees across the world, with the company's headquarters located off Pharr Road in Buckhead, which is within a mile of her old stomping grounds at Spanx.

DC Designs International is the latest venture by Nautica founder and designer David Chu, whom brrr° is bringing onto its board of directors to assist with scaling the company. Kolb said Chu will help move her manufacturing operation to China.

"It's always known that Taiwan is where the best textile technology is created, but China is where you go to really scale," she said. "So he is going to be able to take our best fabrics and create them in China at a sharper price point while maintaining the same performance."

The Series B round of funding, which is usually the second round of venture capital support a startup receives, will be used to support global growth, sales, marketing and research and development. The funds also include convertible notes from previous capitalizations for brrr°.

The company did not release its estimated valuation, annual sales or other financial information.

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About the Author

Zachary Hansen, a Georgia native, covers economic development and commercial real estate for the AJC. He's been with the newspaper since 2018 and enjoys diving into complex stories that affect people's lives.

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