Inc, Bambeco. Announced today that it secured $4 5 million in its first institutional round of capital led by New Atlantic Ventures and affiliated with the Maryland Venture Fund and a group of environmentally conscious angel investors, including the founder of Team In Training, Bruce Cleland. In its mission to promote sustainable living, Bambeco curates and sells furniture, gifts and home accessories made from recycled, recycled, organic and natural materials. The $4 of it 5 million in equity funding will be used to develop Bambeco’s national in-house design capabilities, to introduce private label products and to advance its sales and marketing operations.
‘Bambeco is addressing a large, passionate and loyal set of consumers who have traditionally struggled to find sustainable home products, from glassware and gadgets to furniture and decoration,’ said Thanasis Delistathis, co-founder and managing partner of New Atlantic Ventures. ‘Americans spend more than $157 billion annually on home furnishings, yet 61 percent report that they can’t find environmentally friendly options. The founders of Bambeco have a deep sense of mission and a good experience with iconic brands to fill a significant gap in the e-commerce retail market. ”
With this funding round, Mr. Delistathis will join the Board of Directors of Bambeco
Bambeco is changing the world, a room at a time. Since its launch on Earth Day in 2009, Bambeco has been responsible for an inventory of thousands of sustainable and stylish goods, including Adirondack chairs made from recycled detergent bottles and milk jugs, organic bedding, chemical-free natural fiber rugs and recycled glassware. While achieving consecutive triple-digit annual revenue growth, it has worked tirelessly through the sustainability lens, establishing its headquarters in a former warehouse that has been converted into a wind-powered, solar-powered, geo-thermal building. Workspaces are anchored by wood from recycled doors and the floor-to-ceiling ‘living wall’ is saturated with plants that include an embedded irrigation system designed to reduce carbon compounds. Bambeco’s supply chain is the culmination of a proprietary cradle-to-cradle supply and delivery model designed to carefully vet every product, factory and supplier, from the purchase of wood-based products from responsibly managed forests to the promotion of product delivery through hybrid electric trucks. Bambeco’s environmentally responsible global operation has led to alliances with The Nature Conservancy, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the World Wildlife Fund, and Oceana, and other conservation groups.
‘Bambeco embodies the kind of innovation that comes from the State of Maryland,’ said Thomas Dann, Managing Director of the Maryland Venture Fund. ‘The company quickly built a loyal, growing customer base by vigorously assessing environmentally sustainable products and remaining selective with suppliers. Much of our support has to do with Bambeco’s value-based business practices. At the same time, we recognize that Bambeco operates in an industry that continues to experience double-digit yearly consecutive growth. ”
Deborah Baldini is joining Bambeco as Chief Creative Officer
Bambeco also announced today the appointment of Deborah Baldini as Chief Creative Officer, Head of Marketing and Merchandising. Mrs. Baldini brings 25 years of merchandising, supply chain and marketing experience to Bambeco. She started her career at Levi Strauss & Co. , overseeing the forecasts, designs, product management, finance and sales of Levi’s Women and Kids apparel. Later, it developed a retail practice for Freeborders, Inc. Introducing Lifecycle Product Management Software to Michael Kors, Nike, The Gap and Coach. In 2008, the software was sold to Lawson Software. Mrs. Baldini earned an MBA from the Walter Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.
‘Look no further than the dramatic weather in your neighborhood to the extreme Alaskan glacial recession to experience climate change in close proximity,’ said Susan Aplin, co-founder and CEO of Bambeco. ‘We recognize that ecommerce is on an upward trajectory and our mission is to remove unnecessary carbon from the production, packaging and distribution of products across the industry. We applaud our investors for promoting ways of empowering businesses to operate responsibly and enabling consumers to live their sustainability values throughout their homes. ”
Susan Aplin brings 20 years of experience in retail and e-commerce to Bambeco, including executive roles at Williams-Sonoma, Gap, Sports Authority and Staples. At Williams-Sonoma, the company re-engineered $1 2B Direct-to-Consumer division, which spanned sales of products across Williams-Sonoma, Williams-Sonoma Home, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, PB Teen and West Elm. She left Williams-Sonoma to push through the adoption of BillMeLater, an online payment tool used by Wal-Mart, JetBlue and Hotels. Com, which accelerates the check-out process and was acquired by eBay subsidiary PayPal in 2008.
About Bambec
Bambeco is a home furnishings and decor company where the eco-conscious consumer intersects with home decor and needs a lifestyle. Imagine a home where your values live, where you don’t have to sacrifice style or quality to live sustainably. In Bambeco, that dream has become a reality. Bambeco is a leader in stylish, sustainable furniture and home decor. All of our products are sustainable; made from recycled, recycled, recycled, renewable, organic or natural materials. Every product is a step towards our goal of changing the world, one room at a time. Launched on Earth Day 2009, Bamboo celebrates Bamboo, the planet’s most renewable and versatile resource, and ecology, the essential relationship we have with the environment. Bambeco is based in Baltimore, MD, with the support of New Atlantic Ventures, Maryland Venture Fund, and a group of environmentally conscious angel investors, including Bruce Cleland, Founder of Team in Training. Go to Bambeco for more or to shop. Come on,
New Atlantic Ventures
New Atlantic Ventures is an early-stage VC company that invests nationally in healthcare, cyber security, higher education, mobile, e-commerce and digital media. Collectively, its partners have helped entrepreneurs set up more than 100 companies, including DivX, EnerNOC, Invincea, Massive (acquired by Microsoft), Mobile365 (acquired by Sybase), Moda Operandi, Qliance, Solve Media and Stitcher Radio. The company manages $275 million from offices in Cambridge, MA and Reston, VA.
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