【Romantic comedy Archives】

Investors seem to think sustainable sneakers have Romantic comedy Archivespotential.

Allbirds, the San Francisco-based startup that makes wool sneakers, just closed on $7.25 million in a new round of funding.

SEE ALSO: $600 designer sneakers feature dirt, tears and duct tape

The Series A round was led by Maveron, the venture capital firm co-founded by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. Seed investors Lerer Hippeau, Peterson Partners, Great Oaks VC, Red Sea Ventures and Slow Ventures also participated, Allbirds said.

---

You May Also Like

---

---

The $7.25 million adds to Allbirds' $2.7 million in seed funding.

Launched last March, Allbirds makes men's and women's shoes whose main appeal is their material. The New Zealand merino wool Allbirds uses is designed specifically to be breathable, flexible and lightweight. The shoes are meant for casual wear, not active use.

Co-founder Tim Brown grew up in New Zealand, which gave him the idea for a shoe that would be designed around his country's trademark material. Co-founder Joey Zwillinger came from a background in renewables and biotech, helping to develop Allbirds shoes as a sustainable product.

Mashable Trend Report Decode what’s viral, what’s next, and what it all means. Sign up for Mashable’s weekly Trend Report newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Allbirds says the shoes are sustainable because they're made with wool, a natural material.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

"We go out and look for a need in the market and try to engineer a material that is both natural and sustainable," Zwillinger told Mashable. "That creates an amazing experience."

Allbirds isn't releasing specific numbers about the shoes it has sold since launching in March, but Zwillinger says the company ran through its first round of inventory planned for three months in three weeks. Its plan for 2016 will include three times the inventory it presented to investors during its seed rounds.

The bulk of Allbirds' customers are between 25 and 35 years old, and the company has sold shoes to customers in all 50 states. It also has a strong presence in New Zealand.

The sneakers retail for $95 and are only sold through Allbirds' website.

With this recent round of funding, Allbirds plans to beef up its inventory and support new product development.

Right now, the company is focused on footwear, but it has plans to look into other products down the line, possibly apparel or travel accessories.

• Science
• Social Good
• Games
• Shopping
• Life
• Entertainment
• Tech
• Deals

• Conflict Irresolution
• Outsmart polar vortices with 15% off The North Face at The House
• Justin Timberlake and Ryan Gosling recreated their 'Mickey Mouse Club' days at the Oscars
• Lily Allen quits Twitter after trolls attack her over son's death
• Comrades at Arms
• Move over Emily Dickinson, Grindr has a poet in residence
• 'Frozen 2' spins a darker, more mature fairy tale: Movie review
• Why you should watch 'Sister Act 2' on Disney+
• Strange, Stranger, Strangest
• Gary from Chicago deserves a lifetime achievement Oscar

• The Daily Show's response to Trump firing the FBI director is absolutely perfect
• Nintendo confirms unauthorized access of 160,000 accounts
• Why I refuse to sign up for Zoom
• Jinx, buy me a Coke: Unpacking one of Jim and Pam's greatest 'Office' episodes
• Amazon tech workers called out sick to protest working conditions
• That Wendy's chicken nugget teen just beat Ellen's Twitter record
• We regret to inform you that people are stanning Kim Jong
• Let's just tally up all the bizarre fallout from the Comey firing
• Trail cam catches a young deer playing like a little kid
• How Star Wars characters drink their coffee, according to a fanfiction writer

• Somebody Else’s Babies
• 'Moana' star gets whipped in head with a flag mid
• Jim and Pam's first kiss happened at Chili's and that's that on that
• Move over Emily Dickinson, Grindr has a poet in residence
• Can Liberals Give Peace a Chance?
• Watch this 9
• Microsoft is scaling back Android and iOS versions of the Cortana app
• Justin Timberlake and Ryan Gosling recreated their 'Mickey Mouse Club' days at the Oscars
• Don’t Troll, Organize
• Jenna Fischer explains why Pam and Roy were engaged for so long on 'The Office'

• The Ministry of Politainment
• Chrissy Teigen makes sure everyone knows John Legend didn't win an Oscar (this year)
• Hate crime murders rose in 2018, according to new FBI data
• What to expect from Instagram's glitzy portrait studio at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party
• Fresh Hell
• Halle Berry apparently relaxed after the Oscars with a quick skinny dip
• This giraffe birth livestream is driving the internet insane
• Coinbase Card adds 5 more cryptocurrencies and launches in 10 new countries
• Downgrading Harvard
• Netflix's 'Earthquake Bird' gets spoiled by a bad ending: Review