Freak show.

AuthorWalker, Cameron
PositionNC TREND: Eastern Region

Shortly after he arrived in Wilmington in 2007, at the end of a gap-year, cross-country road trip, Freaker USA founder Zach Crain wandered into a Stitch 'n Bitch knitting meetup and had a lightbulb moment: What if he could make a one-size-fitsall drink koozie?

That idea became the Freaker, a whimsical, $9.99-and-up knit beverage insulator that stretches to fit everything from a 2-liter soda bottle to a beer can, emblazoned with sports team logos, comic book characters and punny designs like "Golden Gulls" (sea gulls in wigs) and "Grand Theft Otter" (an otter on a motorcycle).

Product idea in hand, Crain contacted Robinwood Enterprises, a family-owned hosiery mill in Troy. They joined to make the Freaker a reality, with Crain visiting for days at a time, often sleeping on the factory floor, to tinker with the equipment.

"They were willing to do anything for us," says Crain. "In the beginning, I would go up and stay the night and change the yarns on the machine and try out new styles. Can you imagine that? They have these really expensive machines and here's this person they just met--and they let me stay here overnight and just poke around?"

The Pennsylvania native financed the venture with a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign in 2011, which netted $62,770 from 2,416 backers. The campaign resulted in an appearance on the television show Shark Tank. Crain failed to land funding but introduced his product to 7 million viewers and became the subject of the 2014 crowdfunding documentary Capital C.

Financed entirely through relatively small investments, the business started turning a profit in 2011. Four years later, Crain and his company went beyond koozies to launch...

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