Glow Capital inks first deal, buys hospitality outfit maker Cargo Crew
Glow Capital, the investment house run by former Quadrant Private Equity deal maker Justin Ryan, has closed its first deal after acquiring a controlling stake in Melbourne-headquartered clothing supplier Cargo Crew.
The company, which sells uniforms, logged north of $20 million in turnover last year, and wants to use proceeds from the investment to build a bigger sales team in Australia and invest in digital marketing and content in the United States, which is Cargo Crew’s biggest market outside Australia.
Cargo Crew’s top brass Narelle Craig, client services; Paul Rodgers, operations; and Felicity Rodgers, founder and creative director.
Cargo Crew founder Felicity Rodgers said the company, which started in 2021, began considering outside investment in the business about 12 months ago. Some two months later, as it was preparing marketing documents in a bid to attract outside capital, Cargo Crew was approached by Glow Capital.
“The timing was great. We had just started an internal process to look for external investment… Glow had been keeping an eye on us,” said Ms Rodgers, adding that Cargo Crew needed a larger injection of capital to pursue its overseas and sales expansion plans.
“The reality is, to keep on this trajectory, it requires more than we as individuals can to take Cargo Crew to its ultimate potential.”
She said Cargo Crew, which makes uniforms for hospitality, retail, transportation and banking companies, has shipped product to 80 countries. Some 25 per cent of its online revenue is international, Ms Rodgers said. The company had received other approaches from private investors, but Ms Rodgers declined to name those companies.
Both Ms Rodgers and Mr Ryan, Glow Capital’s founder, declined to disclose the size
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