Denver-based Truewerk apparel startup for blue-collar workers raises another $2M

A Denver-based apparel company has raised $2.05 million in funding.

Truewerk, a startup founded in 2015 that makes and sells high-performing apparel for blue-collar workers, is using the money raised from internal investors to increase production and inventory.

“We’re a rapidly growing direct-to-consumer workwear brand, and the biggest challenges for us are frankly just keeping up with inventory demands,” said Founder Brian Ciciora.

Ciciora said Truewerk gets the bulk of its business in the third and fourth quarters of the year because as temperatures drop, people are looking for warm but durable workwear. The newly raised funding will help the company maintain inventory as its sales increase seasonally.

“A lot of apparel brands that have seasonality to them, especially at the back end of the year, there’s a big surge of inventory that has to be filled for fall delivery,” Ciciora said. “As a company that’s more than doubling annually, there’s just more need for inventory dollars that we can sustain from organic growth.”

Ciciora said Truewerk’s revenue is growing two to three times annually, but declined to disclose what those numbers are.

Truewerk’s best-selling item is its T2 Werk Pant, which is part of its best-selling line of pants that vary in warmth, Ciciora said. The T2 Werk Pant is made for fall, winter and spring and costs $79. The T1 Werk Pant, which is for the summer, also costs $79. The T3 Werk Pant designed for the winter costs $99.

Ciciora said Truewerk did not have a decrease in demand during the pandemic because the customers they cater to were essential workers. Truewerk makes clothing for workers such as electricians and plumbers.

“Truewerk serves a market of what became known as essential service providers,” Ciciora said. “Our community is a group of people who really society relies on some to make civilized life possible.”

The company has 20 employees but plans to hire more as the business grows. It hired Jim Trombly, who worked with outerwear companies such as Patagonia and Canada Goose, as director of product management earlier this year, Ciciora said.

“We’ve been very fortunate to have grown very, very well throughout the last year, and don’t take that for granted,” Ciciora said.

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