Away Weighs Potential Sale of Business — Retail Bum

Luggage company Away is exploring a potential sale of its business, nearly three months after the company appointed its former finance chief Catherine Dunleavy as its president.

While it remains unclear how much the company could potentially fetch in a sale, it was valued at $1.45 billion in 2019, when it last raised capital.

The luggage company is backed by several top investors, including Lone Pine Capital LLC, Wellington Management, Baillie Gifford, Accel, and Battery Ventures, as well as individual investors such as billionaire Barry Sternlicht and Slack co-founder Stewart Butterfield, according to Bloomberg.

Over the past year, the company has reportedly added several key executives to its board, including Medley co-founder Edith Cooper and Robert Kaiden, Twitter’s former chief accounting officer. The company has also looked to diversify its product portfolio with the launch of an outdoor product line in June 2022.

The new product line includes duffle bags, backpacks, tote bags, and messenger bags, among other things. The company decided to expand its business to include outdoor travel gear as consumers’ interest in outdoor travel significantly increased over the pandemic.

“That shift, coupled with growing excitement for travel as a whole, has resulted in customer demand reaching new heights,” said Jen Rubio, CEO and co-founder of Away at the time of the launch.

Photo credit: Away

Originally published at https://retailbum.com on February 14, 2023.