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Woman-Owned Ski Apparel Brand Wild Rye Opens to Public Investors

Originally posted on Powder | By Izzy Lidsky | Last updated Jun 10, 2025 7:58 AM ET

Woman-owned ski and bike apparel brand Wild Rye is known for making waves in the outdoor industry and walking to the beat of their own drum.

Between making beautiful and technical women's specific outdoor apparel, and releasing products with pithy slogans like 'Ride Fast, Raise Hell' (with proceeds going to support reproductive rights), Wild Rye has never been a brand to back down from a challenge.

The brand, which launched in 2016, has navigated many of the roadblocks that have plagued the greater outdoor industry in the last decade such as fallout from the COVID pandemic, and the cluster that became the global supply chain, with grace and a 'get er done' attitude.

Now, like other brands, Wild Rye is working to navigate tariffs implemented by the current administration, which is not proving to be easy or cheap for most brands.

Rather than let uncertain tariffs drag them down, Wild Rye is turning to the community that helped them raise $50K for Planned Parenthood to continue riding fast, and raising hell, so to speak.

Starting June 10, 2025, the public will be able to invest in Wild Rye through an SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) to reach a goal of $1M in funding. The company has a goal of hitting $38M in revenue by 2029, with profitability by 2027. 50% of invested money will go towards marketing, 20% towards product development, 15% towards distribution, and 15% towards their team and operations.

The brand notes in their WeFunder investment page that they're actively working to shift production out of China, in order to reduce cost and improve resilience long term.

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"I’ve explored traditional fundraising, but I keep coming back to the belief that there’s real value in our community becoming owners and sharing in our future success. Our brand exists because of our community, so it only feels right to give them the opportunity to benefit from Wild Rye’s growth. We’re a values-driven brand, and being community-owned just makes sense," said the brand's founder and CEO, Cassie Abel.

So why doesn't Wild Rye just get funding from a Venture Capitalist (VC) firm like other outdoor brands?

Well, as pointed out by Abel, women-owned companies only receive 2% of venture capital funding on average, and 30% less in bank loans than their male counterparts.

Abel, who started the brand after a tenure with Smith Optics (whom Wild Rye recently released an extensive collaboration with), has long reiterated that part of Wild Rye's ethos is not just making gear that works for women in the outdoors outside of the 'shrink it and pink it' model, but using it to uplift women.

"The old saying, 'it takes money to make money' couldn’t be truer when it comes to scaling a brand. The retail model requires brands like ours to front the cost of product development long before we get paid by the consumer or the retailer. We’ve hit a pivotal growth moment. With strong retail demand and our expansion into outerwear, we need capital to fund production, support supply chain transitions due to tariff war, and invest in our next chapter. In addition to some working capital (debt) we’re raising in tandem, this raise gives us the breathing room to scale responsibly," said Abel.

Despite the market and funding gap for women's outdoor brands, women make up 46% of outdoor recreation participants. With $5.2M in projected revenue in 2025, an 82% compound annual growth rate, a pair of mountain bike pants that's gained a cult following, and a cool factor off the charts amongst mountain women, Wild Rye has proven that women-owned, women specific brands have a space in the outdoor industry.

With investments from the public, the brand hopes to go to the next level by becoming a billion dollar business with expansions into ski outerwear (stay tuned for a review!), mountain bike protection, and running spaces by 2027.

This article first appeared on Powder and was syndicated with permission.

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