Oct 14, 2015

Bears for Humanity raises capital with CircleUp

Bears For Humanity, a trailblazing organic toys and gifts company, is raising $500,000 for growth capital to fund manufacturing for orders, expanding its product line and releasing the world’s first interactive Smart Bear using CircleUp, an online venture capital fundraising tool for entrepreneurial businesses.

Investors can learn about Bears For Humanity on the CircleUp website or by emailing Founder and Chief Giver Renju Prathap at Renju@bears4humanity.com. The company is accepting a minimum investment of $5,000, which is an approachable amount for families who are fans of the company’s Buy One Give One concept to become backers.

Bears For Humanity marquee customer base includes Whole Foods Market, Hallmark stores, PETA, NPR, Zulily, Biltmore Estates and many others. When a teddy bear purchase from Bears For Humanity is made, you have the delightful task of choosing a charity – Toys For Tots, Save The Children, Semper Fi Fund, OneSimpleWish.org, Lucile Packard– because purchases instantly double as a gift for a child in need.

More than that, the cuddly pal is personally delivered to a needy veteran’s house, a children’s hospital or an underprivileged household. The stuffed bears come in two sizes – 16-inch Premium Bear and 7-inch Baby Bear. The many charity options and five color choices are splashed across the company website that opens to a philosophical question – Can A Teddy Bear Change The World?

Currently, each bear is assembled in Northern California, where plenty of jobs have been created for those that need it most. The small business trains individuals through California’s welfare-to-work program, CalWORKs. Teddy bear makers are typically women – many are also moms – who qualify for this work assistance program. The company plans to use some of the funding raised through CircleUp to open a second plant, and hopes to employ military spouses with flexible hours to make working a possibility.

Teddy Bears can currently be purchased from Amazon or the Bears For Humanity website.