Parker Clay is luxury leather goods company dedicated to hiring at-risk women in Ethiopia, providing them with living wages, benefits, skills training, and career advancement opportunities to foster financial independence and combat exploitation. With this mission in mind and growth knocking at the door, they utilized a Purpose Round as an alternative to raising from venture capital.
“We figured out this could be a perfect vehicle to be able to engage our community beyond just buying a bag—by literally sharing in the company,” Parker Clay CEO Ian Bentley told Sourcing Journal. “A lot of companies at our scale would be looking at a Series A round, but this is so much more in alignment with today’s conscious consumer.”
They utilized the Regulation A crowdfunding model to raise funds from the public with the goal of deepening community involvement and giving supporters an ownership stake in their success. Parker Clay partnered with Renew VC and Dealmaker to launch a bespoke investment landing page reflecting the premium experience and attention to craft the brand is known for. This microsite made it easy for their community of customers and supporters to financially invest in Parker Clay's mission and growth without cannibalizing customer sales and traffic to their main website.
The strategy and subsequent campaign connected the offering to the brand’s values. By focusing on purpose-led storytelling, they raised from their existing community and new advocates to expand production capacity, hire and create impact for more employees, and scale up their market share in the United States and internationally.
“We believe in building a better way, and that happens through community. Simply put, our community is why we exist. As a B Corp, we also believe in transparency and raising the standards within the fashion industry, and our community support is the backbone of Parker Clay,” Bentley said. “We have also experienced tremendous growth over the past years and we see a great opportunity and demand in the market to expand our products to the world. As we look to expand our supply chain and business opportunities we wanted to invite our community to be part of this through investing and becoming a co-owner with us.”
Whether directly from purchases or by participating financially in the company’s growth as a Purpose Round investor, Parker Clay is showing that activating community around purpose realizes their foundational company principle - if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.