The Los Angeles Dodgers are in the National League Championship Series this year and also making moves on the business side, investing in Renegade Brands’ cleaning systems for high-performance sports gear and apparel.
Renegade announced Tuesday it had closed a $5 million investment round with participation from Elysian Park Ventures, the private investment arm of the Dodgers’ ownership group. Renegade is one of five companies that had participated in the Dodgers’ second accelerator program this year.
Renegade developed the Sweat X sports detergent that lifts and removes odor and stains and is specifically engineered to get rid of the stains and sweat beads housing bacteria known to cause odor in uniforms.
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“Sweat X is remarkable, indeed revolutionary, in its ability to clean and exfoliate technical sports apparel and gear,” Tucker Kain, CFO of the Dodgers and Partner at Elysian Park, said in a statement. “The reality is that the underlying chemistries used in laundry detergents haven’t changed in over thirty years, while the sports apparel market has evolved profoundly. What athletes need now is a cleaning technology that’s as technologically advanced as the gear they wear. Renegade is changing the way laundry detergents serve the modern athlete, and we’re proud to join them as an investment partner.”
Renegade became the official laundry provider for USA Triathlon, US Lacrosse, USA Field Hockey, and served the IMG Academy. It currently provides its detergent to the Dodgers, New York Yankees, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Cleveland Indians, the University of Illinois, University of Maryland and USC.
“The source of the problem isn’t the evolving design of sports apparel; it’s the outdated nature of the detergents being used,” Renegade Brands Founder and CEO Cathy Horton said.