Check out our 2021 winner testimonials
As we gear up to launch the 2022 Moosejaw Outdoor Accelerator, we wanted to share the stories from this year’s winning companies. PACT Outdoors, Pathloom, SheFly Apparel, and Spruce Pup all completed the 8-week intensive business mentoring program guided by ICELab at Western Colorado University.
Here’s what they had to say:
SheFly Apparel - Vermont
About: SheFly Apparel is a layerable line of outdoor pants for women that allow them to comfortably, safely, and easily relieve themselves in the outdoors without exposing skin to the elements or other people. These flexible and convertible pants feature a patented front-to-back zipper for simple access when you’ve gotta go.
About the Founders: A diverse female trio, Charlotte, Bianca, and Georgia Grace, who have spent time on boulders and in the boardroom founded SheFly Apparel and lend their real-life experience as recreationalists, adventurers, leaders, scientists, activists, innovators, and storytellers to building a brand that focuses on gender, racial, and size inclusivity.
Pathloom – San Ramon, CA
About: Pathloom is an all-in-one solution for making outdoor discovery and trip planning easy. Pathloom aims to make a profound impact in getting more people outdoors who would otherwise not be able or encouraged to do so. They’ve developed an all-in-one app to make planning for camping, hiking and other outdoor recreation trips as easy as booking a traditional vacation.
About the Founders: Ankit is committed to getting more people outdoors from all communities: both well-represented and underrepresented. The founder and his team members are BIPOC and represent an underrepresented group in outdoor recreation itself and the outdoor recreation industry.
PACT Outdoors – Crested Butte, CO
About:PACT Outdoors designs innovative bathroom kits for your outdoor adventures. With the increase in outdoor participation comes the increase in human waste being improperly disposed of and left on trails. The PACT Outdoors kit helps you dig, clean, and restore to help you get back to your adventure. Each kit includes mycelium powder, a root system for fungi that breaks down human waste, giving you the tools to leave no trace.
About the Founders: Jake and Noah recognize that environmental degradation impacts marginalized and underrepresented groups more than privileged and dominant ones. This intersectional environmentalism advocates for both the protection of people and the planet, recognizing that both are inextricably linked.
Spruce – Pittsburgh, PA
About:Spruce makes beautifully designed dog gear, focused on innovative features and clever details for modern dog people. Spruce has launched products on crowdfunding platforms, allowing real dog people to provide feedback and support products they believe in. Spruce takes environmental responsibility very seriously, using durable recycled materials to create their products, like leashes from recycled climbing ropes..
About the Founders: Spruce is a woman-owned business. Leah Wiegmann is responsible for the brand’s look and feel, and runs social media for Spruce. Spruce’s founders helped build the baby products company 4moms, and have now brought their baby product development skills to the dog world.
At Moosejaw we know two things: there are never enough cool, new outdoor products, and there’s not enough diversity in the outdoor industry. So, we got together with some of our friends and created the Moosejaw Outdoor Accelerator. This new program will help a diverse group of entrepreneurs create solutions for enjoying the outdoors with more comfort, safety, sustainability and inclusion.