Corporate Catwalk + Our Crowdfunding Campaign

Hi Everyone! We are so thankful for everyone who has been following along throughout our Corporate Catwalk journey. It’s been a lot of fun and we have gotten a lot done, but we are still working to bring our vision to reality. As with any start-up, it takes a lot of capital to be in order to feed the engines and raising money is key. There are many ways to do it but they aren’t mutually exclusive: sell your products and services, crowdfunding, angel investment, VC investment, etc. It was always our plan to crowdfund once we had the business firmly framed out with our new team in place. With our tech stack started, and our office is ready to go. I have been getting a lot of questions on crowdfunding: What is it? How do you do it? Why are you doing it? These are all great questions. But let’s get into it, first let me remind you what we are building.

The Corporate Catwalk Box

Corporate Catwalk was the original name of my blog when I first got started back in 2012. I was working in corporate America and I needed an outlet to share the outfits I wore to work. I wanted to show how I incorporated my fashion style into traditional workwear. As we fast forward to 2019, we decided to bring the idea that I had been thinking about for the last seven years, to life. The Corporate Catwalk Box is an online styling subscription service that delivers handpicked workwear pieces and accessories to your door on a monthly basis. You keep the items you love and return the items you don’t. Our mission is to create a space where women can find inspiration to dress confidently and work who they are. It isn’t always about buying all new clothes. We all have wardrobes. Some of those clothes we like (but may not actually know we have them) and some we don’t. With a little bit of advice and outfit inspiration, you can put together outfits with pieces you already have and add complementing pieces throughout the year. Sometimes life does call for a brand new outfit from time to time, but if we can help you make your current wardrobe more sustainable, then we have done our job! The Corporate Catwalk Box is just the beginning and I can’t wait to share what we will be working on to further the experience everyone.

What is Crowdfunding?

Crowdfunding, in simple terms, is a way to raise money organically online. The technical definition is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. This has quickly become a common starting place in a start-up’s journey of raising capital. You choose the host platform for your crowdfunding campaign and share your company with the world. Anyone who believes in you and your company can donate to your business through the campaign. You can offer “rewards” to your individual contributors based on the amount of the donation. It’s an amazing concept and a way for individuals who aren’t certified investors to contribute to the success of your company.

Who is hosting your Crowdfunding campaign?

There are a number of platforms out there that can host your crowdfunding campaign but we chose iFundWomen. The experience has been great from the very beginning. IFW provides a roadmap for the entire process and IFW works with you along the way. This is our first venture into crowdfunding and they have made it extremely straightforward and removed all the unknowns from the process. Another huge factor for us was to align with fellow women entrepreneurs. They understand what we are building and believe in the value that Corporate Catwalk brings to the market for working women.

What will you be using your funding for?

The funds we raise are going towards three primary areas of the business, talent, technology and resources. First, we need to hire an in-house software engineer to continue to build out our technology stack, which will allow us to scale to meet high demand. Having a strong in-house developer will allow us to control timelines, applications and processes. We will also be hiring a buyer to build strong relationships with brands and will look to add to our styling team here in NYC as well. Secondly, bringing together the logistics of the business is vital to being able to offer the kind of experience we want for our customers. We will be completing the necessary inventory management and payment system integrations first, and then continue adding the necessary applications to fill out the tech stack. Lastly, we need to start curating our strategic brand partnerships and bringing in the necessary amount of inventory to allow us to meet market demand at launch.

Thank You!

I can’t express how much we have and will continue to appreciate your support. As with any new venture, there are ups and downs, but it is all necessary to get us where we want to go. Being able to share with you what is happening in the business and hearing your comments on social has been so great for not only myself but the team. We have gotten such great referrals, connections, start-up advice and so much more. We can’t wait for the next stage in the business and we thank you for being a part of Corporate Catwalk! If you have any questions on our Crowdfunding Campaign or how to contribute, please let us know. 

Corporate Catwalk on iFundWomen from iFundWomen on Vimeo.

Have an amazing rest of your week!

xo, Olivia