Jay Z thinks he’s found a ideal suitcase

March 24, 2017
Hollywood

Not many successful businesses start with a luggage fail.

But when Jen Rubio called her crony and former co-worker Steph Korey for recommendation on a deputy suitcase, they fast speckled a opening in a market.

“Jen had damaged a container and had been looking for recommendations and everybody came adult dull handed,” Korey said.

There seemed to be usually dual options: Pay for a bag that costs some-more than a vacation, or buy another inexpensive container that would approaching mangle again, she said.

So Korey and Rubio launched Away in Feb 2016 to yield an alternative. The luggage startup available sales of $12 million in a initial year and has already won a subsidy of high form investors such as rapper-entrepreneur Jay Z.

Away founders — Steph Korey (left) and Jen Rubio (right) met when they both worked during Warby Parker.

The founders put Away’s early success down to a group of 41 tech-savvy millennials and their adore of print pity app Instagram.

“There’s a lot of people on a group who were entrance of age when Instagram came out, so we’ve really schooled from them that code find and selling by Instagram is an critical partial of how they find things,” pronounced Korey.

What creates a ideal suitcase?

After spending months interviewing hundreds of travelers, Korey says a group were means to emanate luggage that helps take a con out of any journey.

Away suitcases have inflexible and “unbreakable” shells, says Korey, USB ports that can assign devices, interior application systems that save space, and wheels designed to yield a smoothest, 360-degree roll.

Prices start during $225 for a lift on model, that includes a battery that can assign an iPhone 5 times.

Travelers seem to like a formula. Away sole over 50,000 suitcases in a initial year of business.

But Korey and Rubio, who met when they worked for eyewear unicorn Warby Parker, have bigger ambitions.

“We don’t consider of ourselves as a luggage association during all and we really strongly perspective ourselves as a transport brand. For us it’s all about how can we make transport some-more seamless,” Korey says.

London, New York, Los Angeles?

Away skeleton to enhance into accessories. It also wants to start a transport website with tips and recommendations.

The association has one sell store in New York’s Soho, though it has also tested cocktail ups in Los Angeles, London and Berlin. Encouraged by a clever start, a organisation is now looking during permanent stores in Los Angeles and London.

Away 3 — Korey and Rubio spent months interviewing travelers to see what was critical to them when it comes to suitcases.

Jay Z isn’t a usually financier to mark a potential. Others embody Forerunner Ventures, a strange Warby Parker backers, Jeff Kearl of sock code Stance, Andy Dunn from menswear organisation Bonobos and Brian Lee from The Honest Company.

Korey says a association has grown a lot faster than they expected. But they’re really clever about who they hire, notwithstanding a heated workload.

“It’s going to be value it to wait for that chairman who is truly aligned with this prophesy for creativity and execution and teamwork,” Korey says.

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