Lingerie brand Lively receives $4 million in seed funding

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Oct 27, 2016

Lingerie brand Lively announced this week that it has received $4 million in seed funding led by GGV Capital, Gelmart International, and Man Repeller’s Leandra Medine.

 
Founded by former Victoria’s Secret Director Michelle Cordeiro Grant, Lively is a lingerie brand spearheading the “Leisurée” movement that combines intimates, activewear and swim. The brand website states, “LIVELY is inspired by what we believe makes women sexy today; smart, healthy, active and outgoing. We are delivering bras and undies that blur the aesthetic lines of lingerie, active, and swim, taking the best elements of high-style and comfort from each category.”
 
The Lively team possesses over 60 years of experience in lingerie manufacturing including the four-plus years that Cordeiro Grant has, and the brand has a factory in southern China that employs mostly women.

Cordeiro Grant makes women’s lingerie and underwear that casts aside fantasy and sex appeal for function. She told TechCrunch, “I saw all these brands built by men. And stories told in lingerie were basically about how you, as a woman, would put this bra on and think about how would the man perceive me in this.”
 
Prior to launching Lively, Cordeiro Grant served as VP of Merchandising for Jack Threads at Thrillist Media Group. She also worked at Nautica as Senior Merchandise Manager.