Costa Mesa-based Nimble, a newly formed maker of what it’s promoting as sustainably made smartphone accessories, has raised $2.5 million to help fund growth.
The company, whose founders hail from Mophie Inc., a Tustin-based maker of similar products, announced this month that it raised $1.5 million in equity funding led by Laguna Beach-based Okapi Venture Capital, along with early-stage investor PivotNorth Capital of Menlo Park.
The financing will be used “to fund all Nimble’s initial costs, including product development, production, distribution and marketing,” the company said in a statement.
Okapi is a seed- and early-stage venture capital fund that raised its first investment fund about a dozen years ago.
Nimble also announced it secured an additional $1 million in financing through a debt round from Silicon Valley Bank “to fund increased inventory production, including its expansion into [new] product categories.”
Nimble designs and produces accessories, such as portable chargers, wireless chargers and wall chargers. It started operations in March, according to its founders’ LinkedIn profiles.
It says products are made using sustainable materials, including bioplastics, organic hemp and recycled plastic bottles, and that packaging is made from 100% recycled paper, and includes a prepaid return envelope for customers to send old or unused electronics to recycling sites for disposal.
The company plans to sell online only, which should keep pricing down. Its portable chargers retail for $40 to $80.
“We are so proud to be a part of Nimble’s mission, and ecstatic about what the team has accomplished so far—launching a suite of superior products to market in only a few short months,” Okapi Partner Jeff Bocan said.
He and Pivot North General Partner Tim Connors joined Nimble’s board of directors as part of the funding deal.
Mophie Redux
Nimble co-founder and Chief Executive Ross Howe previously served as Mophie’s vice president of marketing.
The maker of smartphone battery cases and other products was acquired in 2016 by Salt Lake City-based ZAGG Inc. (Nasdaq: ZAGG) for $100 million in cash. It employed an estimated 200 people in Tustin at the time. ZAGG was at the time best known for its iPhone screen protectors and phone cases.
Fellow Nimble co-founders Jon Bradley and Kevin Malinowski previously served as Mophie’s director of creative marketing and senior manager of marketing communications, respectively, according to their LinkedIn profiles.
Okapi’s Bocan also has deep Mophie ties. He led the venture capital investment in Mophie while at Farmington Hills, Mich.-based venture firm Beringea, and served on the board for several years before joining the company as a senior vice president.
He initially invested in Mophie in 2010 when its revenue was just over $10 million. By the time of its sale to ZAGG, sales approached $250 million, according to Okapi’s website.
“Nimble is uniquely positioned to quickly capture share of a market dominated by expensive instore brands burdened by high retail margins or cheap internet-only Chinese-factory brands,” Bocan said in a statement.
“Nimble provides consumers well designed and inspired products, with great customer service and at competitive prices.”
