Sol Republic

Sol Republic, Inc.
Privately held corporation
Industry Consumer electronics, audio accessories
Founded 2010
Headquarters San Francisco, CA
Key people
 Scott Hix (founder)
Seth Combs (founder)
Kevin Lee (founder)
Owner Kevin Lee
Number of employees
 100
Website solrepublic.com

Sol Republic is an American privately held audio manufacturer based in San Francisco. The company was founded in 2011 by Scott Hix, Seth Combs, and Kevin Lee, and overall have 100 employees currently.

Some of their best-selling products include their unique over-ear headphones, such as the Tracks, in which the headphone couplets can be interchangeable with the included headband.

History

The company was founded in 2010 by Scott Hix, Seth Combs, and Kevin Lee.[1][2] Lee had worked at Beats Audio, while Hix had been an executive with InFocus.[2] Lee's father, Noel Lee, founded video and audio cable company Monster.[3] The name is an acronym for "soundtrack of life".[2] By December 2011 the company had 33 employees split between headquarters in Wilsonville, Oregon, and San Francisco, California.[2] In July 2011, the company received $5.2 million in investment funding, followed by $22 million in July 2012.[4] Sol Republic introduced its DECK portable speaker in August 2013 in partnership with Motorola Mobility; the system was designed to work with the Moto X.[5] At that time the company had grown to 85 employees.[5]

The company raised another $27 million in March 2014, by which time it was employing 100 people and had its products in 26,000 retail stores.[6] The funding came from Riverwood Capital and Greenoaks Capital Management, and was expected to be used to expand into international markets as well as new product development.[7] Sol Republic's main distribution channels at that time were through Apple, RadioShack, and Best Buy.[7]

In 2014, the President of Sol Republic, Scott Hix, gave up his duties to co-founder and CEO Kevin Lee. Hix still owns a major portion of the company and is still considered a co-founder. He has turned most of his attention to his consulting firm called TargetPath and is once again managing it full-time. Hix's business partner Brad Gleeson also left the company in January of 2014.[8]

On October 20, 2015, Sol Republic partnered with Indiegogo in an attempt to crowd fund their newest invention; the Relay Sport Wireless[9]

During December 2015, the official website was shut down temporarily for redesign of the entire structure.

Products

Sol Republic sells a variety of audio products, such as headphones, portable speakers, and ear buds.[5][10] To help in marketing the products, the company has partnered with musicians and DJs such as Calvin Harris, Deadmau5 and Steve Aoki.[10]

Headphones

Speakers

References

  1. ↑ "Entity Details". Division of Corporations. Delaware Secretary of State. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Siemers, Erik (December 16, 2011). "Sol Republic makes noise". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  3. ↑ Rogoway, Mike (April 26, 2014). "Sol Republic seeks share of crowded audio market by blending fashion, technology". The Oregonian. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  4. ↑ Siemers, Erik (July 13, 2012). "Sol Republic raises $22M". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 Stevens, Suzanne (August 1, 2013). "Soaring Sol Republic amps Moto X cool, debuts new speaker". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  6. ↑ Spencer, Malia (March 31, 2014). "Wilsonville's Sol Republic lands $27M". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  7. 1 2 Rogoway, Mike (March 31, 2014). "Sol Republic, audio technology startup with offices in Wilsonville, raises $27.5 million for new products, global expansion". The Oregonian. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  8. ↑ Spencer, M. (2015, June 24). No longer president, Sol Republic co-founder Scott Hix looks to nurture other businesses. Retrieved December 8, 2015, from http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/blog/techflash/2015/06/no-longer-president-sol-republic-co-founder-scott.html
  9. ↑ SOL REPUBLIC PARTNERS WITH INDIEGOGO TO EXCLUSIVELY LAUNCH RELAYS SPORT WIRELESS IN-EAR HEADPHONES. (2015, October 20). Retrieved December 8, 2015, from http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sol-republic-partners-with-indiegogo-to-exclusively-launch-relays-sport-wireless-in-ear-headphones-300162727.html
  10. 1 2 O'Brien, Ciara (March 27, 2014). "The Soundtrack of Life for music lovers". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 April 2014.

External links

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