Vancouver underwear maker Naked Brand Group Inc. (NAKD:OTCBB) announced July 9 that it has closed a US$7.3 million private placement, including US$6.1 million that it announced last month.
The new money comes as the company adjusts to having a new management team headed by CEO Carole Hochman, and including CFO Michael Flanagan and vice-president of sales and marketing Carlos Serra.
Abbotsford’s Joel Primus founded Naked in 2009, not long before he pitched the venture to investors on the CBC show Dragon’s Den.
He failed to get funding but quickly expanded sales to more than $100,000 annually in 2011.
Retailers such as Holt Renfrew, Nordstrom and Hudson’s Bay now sell the form-fitting, high-end underwear.
Primus opened a distribution centre in Los Angeles in 2012 and told Business in Vancouver at the time that he planned to take the company public via a reverse takeover on the loosely regulated OTCBB exchange.
The company said in a release that it plans to use the proceeds of the private placement for marketing and new product development
