New World Angels (NWA), Florida’s premier structured angel investment group, announced that it completed an approximately $700,000 investment into Fuego, Inc., as part of a $2.5 million capital raise. The additional funding provides capital for Fuego to continue its successful new product development efforts and global expansion.
New World Angels (NWA) is a group of 100+ accredited, private investors, operators and entrepreneurs dedicated to providing equity capital and guidance to early-stage entrepreneurial companies, especially those with a strong presence in Florida. Members of NWA have extensive experience in founding, building, and managing companies in a wide variety of industries. NWA members are involved in the entrepreneurial communities from Miami to Melbourne on Florida’s east coast and from Naples to Orlando on Florida’s west coast. NWA has invested over $30 million in innovative start-ups. In addition to providing funding, NWA members make their expertise and resource networks available to portfolio companies to facilitate a company’s growth.
Fuego is a global, tech-enabled dance-inspired athleisure and lifestyle brand providing patented sneakers worn by dancers in 120 countries around the world. Its sole technology is engineered for dancing and spinning on any surface as well. It serves a large and growing market of people of all ages enjoying dancing across all formats, including Hip-Hop, Ballroom, Salsa, Dance fitness, Swing, Ballet, Jazz, and more.
Designed in collaboration with Jade Chynoweth, world-renowned dancer, actress and social media sensation, the Jade X Fuego show is eco-friendly sneaker features a raw Jade stone and a knit fabric texture made from recycled plastic water bottles. It’s the shoe that went viral and really put Fuego on the map.
The investment reflects NWA’s interest in supporting new business opportunities for exciting new consumer products, a driving force in economies throughout the world. Ken Wilkes, lead of the Consumer Products team at NWA, commented that “The investment in Fuego is a great example of our investment thesis. We focus on consumer product start-ups in-revenue experiencing strong growth and high customer satisfaction, with a focus on wellness, sports, and leisure.
He continued “Consumer products and services are quickly evolving with changes in tastes and preferences, providing abundant opportunities for new products and businesses. Speed to market is accelerating, adoption of new technologies is disrupting established Go-To-Market approaches and providing great efficiencies, and innovation is rampant. Focused product offerings and identifiable customer segments are good, getting personal is important, and providing for interconnectivity is value-added. Fuego is a great example.â€
New World Angels President, Ron Tarro
Ron Tarro, President of NWA, commented “We are excited to add Fuego to our portfolio, especially as it marks another NWA investment in this area of focus for our organization. We will continue to look for investment opportunities that allow NWA to leverage its deep well of member experience and talent to assess investments and guide our portfolio founders toward growth.â€
Fuego CEO Kevin Weschler noted, “It was a pleasure to work with the NWA team, especially as they brought an understanding of our business and insights on meeting the challenges and opportunities of growth, including global expansion. We are delighted that Ken Wilkes will join our board as an observer and share his experience as we continue to grow our company domestically and abroad for the benefit of all of our stakeholders.â€