Display Skinz raises $1.5M seed to create customized display protectors

Clay Canning had an thought whereas in highschool: smartphone display protectors that featured logos, proper on the display.

He later related with Rashaun Brown, who was working in sports activities and licensing on the time, and the thought for Display Skinz was born.

“We each understood the chance and complemented one another’s weak spot,” Brown, the corporate’s CEO, instructed For Millionaires. “In December 2022, I resigned from my job to pursue constructing Display Skinz with Clay full-time.”

Now, Display Skinz can formally announce the closing of a $1.5 million seed spherical led by South Loop Ventures and Abo Ventures.

The corporate produces customized, patent-pending cellphone display protectors that characteristic personalised logos or slogans which can be seen when the cellphone display is black after which disappear when the cellphone is in use. Prospects can create their very own designs or choose from the corporate’s present catalog.

Telephone equipment have at all times been a large market, with the worldwide display protector market alone price an estimated $51 billion as of 2023.

Display Skinz already holds inventive licenses with varied big-name manufacturers, working with organizations such because the NFL and NBA and leisure manufacturers like Marvel and the WWE.

The most recent fundraise allowed Display Skinz to maneuver manufacturing from Asia to the U.S., the place it may extra simply management its provide chain.

The corporate is seeking to double down on the display safety trade, and although it presently solely focuses on smartphones, there’s a plan to in the future increase to creating display protectors for tablets. “With our IP, we will primarily develop display safety for any cell gadget that has use for a display protector and includes a backlit show,” Brown mentioned.

Brown described Display Skinz’s fundraising course of as “completely different,” stating that it took the corporate a couple of yr to shut its seed spherical. Brown and Canning deliberately took their time, as additionally they sought to refine their provide chain and put together stock for a mass go-to-market. “We wished to do the work of promoting a sensible imaginative and prescient to buyers,” Brown mentioned.

Display Skinz met its co-lead investor, Abo Ventures, by Brown’s community from when he labored at Texas A&M. They then met South Loop Ventures whereas taking part in DivInc’s Sports activities Tech Accelerator in Houston.

Michelle Micone, the previous SVP of client merchandise at NFL and Hasbro, mentioned she appreciated that the staff had a singular idea and in addition discovered the manufacturing and logistics of manufacturing it. “Prospects desire a excessive stage of personalization, however it’s actually, actually laborious to ship on time and at an inexpensive value. Display Skinz has that method, and I wished to be a part of it,” she instructed For Millionaires.

Different buyers within the spherical embrace Brent Montgomery, the CEO of Wheelhouse Leisure, alongside Wayne Pfeffer and Brendan O’Donnel, former administrators of worldwide cell accent merchandise at Apple. Pfeffer, specifically, was additionally offered on the thought of constructing display protectors extra personalizable. “For years, personalizing your gadget was restricted to the case,” he instructed For Millionaires. “Once I noticed the evolution to the entrance on a display protector, I used to be offered!”

Brown mentioned the corporate may look to lift as early as subsequent yr once more. Display Skinz has some partnerships lined up and is concentrated on buyer acquisition and deepening licensing relationships.