Why we Invested: Lasso
Partha Unnava, Founder and CEO of Lasso, has a passion for movement. An athlete and a biomedical engineer, Partha founded Lasso to introduce products that are not only comfortable and easy to use, but support health, movement, recovery and performance. Lasso as a developing brand is about enabling movement with confidence, backed by science.
People
Partha’s compelling vision and personality has attracted other talented people to join him in building Lasso. Jared Verteramo, President, started off as an investor, and was drawn in and joined full time. Jared has a law degree from NYU, was General Counsel at TheStreet (where he worked closely with TBD member Sarah Fay) and is known to get stuff done! Key team member Scott Sorensen, CMO, brings a long track record of success in brand and retail marketing. Former top executive from Reebok and Adidas Uli Becker is also an advisor.
Market
While Lasso’s initial focus is athletic and medical socks, a $4B global market combination, their ultimate goal is to become a lifestyle brand with a market size of $63B. In this very large and crowded market, what stood out was Lasso’s ability to position the company as a leader in integrating science and biomedical research directly into regular apparel, bridging the medical, sports and fashion industries.
Product
Today Lasso offers two basic compression products — white and black athletic socks, in two lengths ($30), and an FDA-approved medical prescription version ($35). The socks are designed specifically to apply pressure and support in specific areas, much like kinesio tape or an ankle or foot brace/wrap, but without any prior training or knowledge to use properly. Their design is far superior to compression socks which are simply tight and apply universal pressure. They are made in the U.S. Future products under development include knee sleeve, arm sleeve, shoulder wear, and hip protection. Lasso apparel benefits from patents and IP developed by Partha and Lasso.
Investment
TBD Angels joined a family office lead investor, that is also part owner of the Texas Rangers MLB team, along with other angel investors. TBD invested ~$50K as part of a $1.5M Series Seed round. TBD member Debi Kleiman, along with her friend Emma Minto (GM at Nike) will serve as advisors to Lasso going forward.
