Fairfield County Business Journal 072015

Page 1

FAIRFIELD COUNTY

BUSINESS JOURNAL July 20, 2015 | VOL. 51, No. 29

5 | LAP POOL TAKES FLIGHT YOUR ONLY SOURCE FOR REGIONAL BUSINESS NEWS

7 | STEM GROWTH westfaironline.com

Rhone sweats the details

SILVER-INFUSED FABRICS PROVE A HOMERUN WITH ATHLETES BY DANIELLE BRODY dbrody@westfairinc.com RHONE APPAREL IS A SMALL STARTUP WITH BIG AMBITIONS. Nate Checketts, the company’s co-founder and CEO, said the niche activewear brand for men is already growing nationally. Funded about 18 months ago in New Canaan as a side business, Rhone Apparel will soon close a Series A round of funding. The clothing is made with odor and bacteria-blocking technology and is designed to double as lifestyle wear, differentiating the company from larger brands, Checketts said. The tops, bottoms and accessories can be worn to work out and hang out, he said.

Nate Checketts at a sidewalk sale in Darien. Photo by Danielle Brody

“None focus on men or men’s leisure,” he said. “We’ve really got a first-mover advantage in what we’re doing.” Checketts, who said he has always been an entrepreneur, launched mobile software in college purchased by the San Francisco 49ers; worked at a growth equity firm specializing in sports and media companies; and most recently worked in sponsorships for the National Football League. He saw an opportunity while at the NFL when the various fitness apparel brands he tried all smelled bad after 10 wears. He realized most athletic clothing uses a chemical-based spray that » RHONE, page 4

SIC taps tech enthusiasm, adds education A PARTNERSHIP WITH SHIPPAN INSTITUTE BRINGS A HACK-A-THON

BY BILL FALLON bfallon@westfairinc.com THE STAMFORD INNOVATION CENTER HAS partnered with The Shippan Institute to offer a four-part course this summer designed to demystify the hash-tag/search-engine-optimized world of modern media. A person might cherry-pick any course, but those who complete all four will have a certificate validating their effort to present to prospective employers. In another effort, Stamford-based Shippan, which offers training software and has run innovative tech forums nationally, and the SIC will launch the Stamford Hack-A-Thon Sept. 18-20, using previous Shippan-run Hack-A-Thons in New York City and San Francisco as the template.

Shippan founder and Stamford resident Hugh Seaton, dressed in jeans and seated in the cooled marble confines of the SIC on Atlantic Street, said of the Hack-A-Thon, “It’s a chance to work through new technologies, to learn by doing. Hacking means finding creative solutions to problems. In the developer community we use the term to mean a smarter way to do things.” He expects 150 to180 software developers and hackers to attend in September and to produce a first-of-its-kind 3-D map of Stamford that will serve as a springboard for local apps. The social media and Hack-A-Thon efforts fit well with the SIC’s education-themed ethos. “Our approach is to be cheerleaders and supporters and to help when asked,” said Peter Propp, the SIC’s chief marketing officer. “We’re not a rigid incubator and one reason for that is

the people of Fairfield County are really accomplished and really smart. You don’t have to be a social scientist to know that. “The barriers to success are education and experience,” he said. “What may be appropriate for one is not appropriate for another. It’s really a style of doing things — to get to know startups on an individual basis and attract broad support for what they’re doing. “Is there as much angel investing or venture capital as we would like?” Propp asked. “The answer is no.” Calling the relationship an official partnership, Seaton said, “They’ve essentially contracted us to build on their education successes and explore new ideas.” A different instructor leads each class, » SIC, page 6


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.