US-based luggage producer Away has received $50m in funding from investors including Comcast Ventures, mass media group Comcast’s corporate venturing unit, Forbes has reported
Comcast was joined by venture capital firms and fellow existing investors Forerunner Ventures and Global Founders Capital, and the round increased the company’s total funding to $81m.
Away designs suitcases equipped with batteries that can be used to charge mobile devices, as well as bags, travel kits and luggage organisers that it also sells directly to consumers through its website and app.
Steph Korey, co-founder and chief executive of Away, told Forbes the company has chiefly grown through word of mouth and social media publicity. She added that the company’s sales quadrupled in 2017, and that it has sold more than 500,000 suitcases altogether.
Comcast Ventures, Forerunner Ventures and Global Founders Capital all took part in Away’s $8.5m series A round in September 2016 and its $20m series B in May 2017. Both rounds also featured VC firm Accel.
The latest funding will support Away’s move into a new head office in New York and the planned growth of its headcount from about 200 to 500 by 2023.
– Image courtesy of Away.