PARKER CLAY BECOMES FIRST B CORP TO RAISE CAPITAL THROUGH REGULATION A+ RULES

Accessories brand Parker Clay has become the first B Corp to raise capital in its community through a Regulation A+, empowering sustainable consumers to play a more direct role in shaping the future of fashion. The company is hoping to lead a fashion industry and consumer movement away from faster, cheaper goods that are made at the expense of workers and our planet. As more consumers question the ethics behind their purchases, the sustainable fashion industry is taking off, and Parker Clay is creating a better model of making and shopping that works for everyone involved.

Regulation A+ is a colloquial name for SEC rules that amended and expanded the rarely used offering exemption named Regulation A. Regulation A+ can be thought of as an alternative to a small, registered IPO and as either an alternative or a complement to other securities offering methods that are exempt from registration under the Securities Act of 1933. As amended, Regulation A+ provides an exemption for U.S. and Canadian companies to raise up to $50 million in a 12-month period. The rules also make the exemption available, subject to limitations on the amount, for the sale of securities by existing stockholders. The rules modernize the existing Regulation A framework by, among other things, requiring disclosure documents be filed on EDGAR, allowing the confidential review of offering documents, and permitting certain “testing the waters” communications.

The brand’s co-founder, Ian Bentley, shared, “We believe that creating better choices for consumers does not have to be complicated. Our business model began with a commitment to empowering women in Ethiopia with living wages, benefits, and more, and we’ve shown that this model is not an act of charity – it’s just good business in a world with increasingly mindful consumers. We’ve succeeded in making a better bag, in a way that’s better for the people who make it. Now it’s time to take that model to the world. We’re building the future of fashion in Africa, and we want our community to join us at the table as co-owners.”

This community fundraising round will enable Parker Clay to expand production capacity, hire and create impact for more employees, and scale up their retail capacity and market share in the United States and internationally. New individual co-owners will also further the brand’s values of transparency, community responsibility, and public accountability.

In just over eight years, Parker Clay has already become the single largest exporter of leather goods in Ethiopia, while funding career training, financial literacy, and healthy lunch programs for its employees. Ethiopia is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, and Africa is positioned to become the global manufacturing hub of the future. Parker Clay is laying the foundations for that manufacturing boom to be more sustainable, more ethical, and more impactful for all stakeholders.

In building the future of fashion, consumers no longer have to hope that brands will make good choices. With community fundraising, they can join Parker Clay and build the future they want to see. Learn more and invest in Parker Clay today at www.invest.parkerclay.com