startups, Software, apparel
Where Bras Meet Software: Zyrra Raises Money From Jess McLear, Jean Hammond, & Local Angels For Its Bra Industry “Revolution”
Erin Kutz 10/19/10
Derek Ohly is known as the “bra guy,” both around the office at MassChallenge, the startup accelerator and entrepreneur competition, and throughout the Boston-area investor community, he says.
“I didn’t expect to end up in the world of bras, and here I am,” says Ohly, a graduate of Babson College’s MBA program (a likely story). “I have designed them, sewn them, fit them, and sourced them. As I like to put it, I have a PhD in bras.”
This isn’t just a weird hobby for Ohly. He’s CEO of Zyrra, a MassChallenge finalist company that’s using computer-aided-design (CAD) software, a patent-pending bra measurement system, and Tupperware-style parties to get custom-fit bras into the hands of women who just aren’t happy with how theirs currently fit.
“Bra guy” is a relatively new gig for Ohly, dating back to about 2004, when his MBA classmate and now Zyrra co-founder Christi Andersen mentioned that there was a pervasive problem with bra fit. So Ohly, who says he was overwhelmed by the number of women sharing Andersen’s gripes, set out in the bra business. He started by taking a sewing class at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education.
“I said, ‘I’m here to learn how to make bras.’ It was a good moment,” he says, noting that he was the only guy in the class. The group of women responded, “Sign me up,” when he explained his aim to make better-fitting bras—early market validation for the company’s product, he says.
Zyrra incorporated in late 2004 and spent a few years designing, prototyping, and building the bra models and the sizing system to plug into the CAD platform in order to design them in a more individualized way, and came out with its first bra model around 2007. The startup worked out of office space in Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood before moving to MassChallenge for the accelerator and business plan competition phase this summer.
Ohly and Andersen’s company isn’t just unique in that it’s applying software that’s typically been used for architecture and product development in the electronics, engineering, and furniture sectors to lingerie-making. The startup also has a different makeup of investors than most others in the tech space. The lead investor for its Series A financing, which is expected to close later this month in the range of $500,000 to $700,000, is angel investor Jess McLear, a member of angel group Golden Seeds and also a mentor at MassChallenge. Jean Hammond, another Golden Seeds member, has also backed the company.
“The angel community is about 90 percent men,” Ohly says. “We will have a slightly different breakdown.”
The company sells its bras (as well as matching underwear) through …Next Page »
Erin Kutz is an Assistant Editor for Xconomy. You can reach her by e-mail at ekutz@xconomy.com or by phone at (617) 252-0700.
Being her parents means you need to give her a curfew and stop her -- an underage girl -- from going to bars for 21 year-olds and up, and partying till all hours of the morning, like she did this past Thursday night, Sept.30, at Hollywood celeb hotspot, Voyeur.
Do the words -- Lindsay Lohan -- mean anything to you? Do you want your daughter to end up in jail and rehab with her career in the ruins?
Relatives of yours, who prefer to remain name-less, are already worried that Miley will become a trainwreak. "No one tells Miley no," the source told HollywoodLife.com. "We're concerned for her. She's 17-years-old, but is the one who makes the money ($25 million in 2009) and she calls all the shots in the family," the relative explained.
Now wonder they're concerned --Miley behaves like she's a woman in her 20's, not an underage teen. Aside from the partying at clubs and bars in LA, Paris and Detroit, in the past month or so -- she already has a long history of walking around flashing her bra and putting on PDA-filled live shows, including simulating a girl-on-girl kiss.
Would YOU want your 17-year-old -- a junior in high school -- to behave like this?
Billy Ray and Tish Cyrus shouldn't want their daughter to be growing up and out of their control, either?
Billy Ray and Tish -- you're "making a tremendous mistake. Everyone needs boundaries, whether they are young or old. Young people need boundaries to set themselves up for the future -- what's ok and not ok," points out relationship expert and author of Don't Bet On The Prince Dr. Gilda Carle. "She thinks she can do anything because she is Miley Cyrus but no one can get away with anything. It caught up with Britney and Lindsay and it will catch up with her."
Here's what the Cyrus family need to do!
--Bonnie Fuller
Scantily Clad 17-Year-Old Miley Cyrus Stops By 21+ Nightclub Voyeur In LA!
EXCLUSIVE: Cyrus Family Insider Tells All "No One Says No To Her, Even Her Parents!"
Photos: September's 10 Biggest Celebrity TMI Moments!
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