Paolo Quagliotti’s entire working life had revolved around large sports fashion brands, until the tragedy in Bangladesh in 2013, in which more than 1,130 people died and more than 2,000 were injured due to the collapse of a textile factory. “He made me rethink if I really wanted to continue working in an industry with these practices,” explains the protagonist. Quagliotti saw in his desire as a runner to use more sustainable technical fabrics his starting point to launch himself towards a better world. “I knew that there were many more aware people who, like me, were interested in using these types of products. For two years, with the help of the Reimagine Textil program, I dedicated myself to developing this fabric and a brand to market the garments made with it,” recalls the entrepreneur.
The first collection of The Running Republic was released just before the covid pandemic. It was through a pre-sale on the Kickstarter platform, in which the founder managed to raise 25,000 euros, more than double the fundraising goal he had set. At that time, Francesc Alsina joined as a founding partner. To this first injection of capital we must add 100,000 euros raised in a first round of investment by private investors and the Fashion Technology Acceleration business accelerator in Milan, where the entrepreneur is from. Later, in a second round, the startup managed to raise 300,000 euros in investment.
The Running Republic works with national and Portuguese manufacturers, who make sports clothing for the brand from fabrics made with plastic waste collected in the environment. “Thanks to this, our greenhouse gas emissions are 70% lower than those of manufacturers who use virgin raw materials,” says the founder.
Although the final consumer can purchase brand clothing through the firm’s website, other online platforms and sector fairs, 80% of the income of this Mataró-based brand comes from contracts with large companies or events. , for those who manufacture to measure. Among these latter clients, for example, Zurich Insurance Group or The League of Legends Super League, from the Professional Video Game League (LVP) of the Mediapro Group, stand out.