Breaking the glass-ceiling
Female CEOs are hard to find, and female founders going public is even rarer. RevolutionRace is the company that broke the mould.
The Stockholm Stock Exchange was founded in 1863, but the first female CEO of a listed company emerged first in 1987. The first female founder taking her company public as CEO took even longer, in 2021 Pernilla Nyrensten received that title.
RevolutionRace was founded by Pernilla and Niclas Nyrensten in 2013, and is headquartered in Borås, Sweden. The direct-to-consumer-company sells outdoor apparel with an innovative design, high quality and functionality at an affordable price point. RevolutionRace’s digital business model drive growth at an impressive pace with the company expanding to 2-4 new markets every year.
Pernilla Nyrensten, founder and CEO, RevolutionRace.“We were born on Facebook with just a few hundred customers, today our social media following is over 500 000 people. Without Facebook we would still have been stuck in my father’s garage – where it all started.”
Altor invested in 2017 with the ambition to support the founders’ growth plan in existing and new geographies and to broaden the product offering. Since Altor’s entry RevolutionRace has gone from targeting five to more than 35 markets, in a very rapid international expansion including localization of the site and offering in the different geographies.
In 2021 the company went public on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. A milestone not only for the company itself but also by being the first time a female founder took her company public on the main list as CEO.
Altor’s prior experiences with Helly Hansen and Rossignol in outdoor apparel and Dustin in terms of online expertise, have been very useful in growing RevolutionRace alongside the founders. Altor has supported the founders and the company in professionalizing the business to build the foundation for continued growth and operational improvements including building the organization, implementation of new financial reporting and new IT systems. Today, many e-commerce companies are under harsh scrutiny when growth isn’t seeing the valuations of prior years. But RevolutionRace continues to stand out with margins rarely seen in the sector.
“When we brought Altor onboard, we were given a dream Board – the combination of knowledge is fantastic” says Niclas Nyrensten, Founder and Head of Product Development at RevolutionRace.
Today, RevolutionRace continues to grow their sales and expanding to new markets. All with high margins intact. Pernilla Nyrensten has stepped down as CEO, but she has left a heritage of high quality apparel at a great price – something that never goes out of style.
Published: Aug 05 2022
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