Traction Capital has invested $500,000 in a St. Cloud based startup making school supplies more convenient and accessible. Impacks provides families with pre-packed school supply kits, tailored specifically to their school and grade. The Minneapolis venture capital firm looks forward to helping Impacks expand their customer base and give back to their community.
Impacks is a tech powered company that simplifies the way parents and educators access critical school supplies for students. Their platform customizes the back-to-school experience for parents, educators and administration through teacher approved school supply kits and bulk supply purchases for schools. Striving to create a world where all students can flourish, Impacks allows schools to fundraise and matches a percentage of each donation.
“Brandon and I, along with our Impacks team, are thrilled to join the Traction Capital portfolio. We believe Traction Capital offers a unique perspective and value through the depth of experience represented across their team and investors. We’ve already seen the impact of their process from just one strategy session with the Traction Capital team. We believe in the system, and we’re proud to align with an organization that leverages tools they use to elevate startups in MN and beyond. One thing that stood out to me in our early conversations with Traction Capital team is the blend of practicality, strategy, and ambition this organization applies to mentoring their portfolio of companies. We have a big goals for Impacks over the next few years, and we’re grateful to have Traction Capital’s support in those goals” says Clare Richards, CEO of Impacks.
Impacks has partnerships with over 50 schools across MN and Wisconsin, has sold over 6,000 school supply kits, and has generated over $18,000 in donations for partner schools.
The founders Clare and Brandon Richards were inspired to solve the issues facing parents and schools after volunteering at a school supply event in their community. Truly a dynamic duo, Clare has over 8 years of experience in marketing strategy and brand building, and Brandon has over 8 years of experience in the school supply industry and sales. Since founding Impacks, the team has participated in multiple accelerators including gBETA, BETA and ILT Academy. After seeing high growth in their company over the last 3 years, Clare and Brandon are excited to take their platform even further with the help of Traction Capital.
As Impacks begins putting their investment to use, they plan to expand their team, grow their facilities, and further develop their platform.
Traction and Impacks are eager to continue working together as Impacks prepares for further expansion. With strong growth and an impressive team, Traction looks forward to helping Impacks succeed. “Clare and Brandon are quite impressive and a pleasure to work with. They’re thoughtful and on top of things. Always prepared when we meet and well thought out. Impacks will fix a problem that has not yet been addressed that will resolve a major piece of the back-to-school headaches parents struggle with. We’re excited to be a part of what they’re doing”, says Brian Cox, President and Integrator of Traction Capital.