The Mill’s 2nd Annual INX pre-qualification pitch event was held on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. Of the 12 pitches that were presented at this event, 5 will be moving on to the INX Pitch Event in Indianapolis, where the winning pitch will receive $100,000 in cash and services. We will be highlighting the 12 pitches at the pre-qualification in Bloomington in a series of blog posts. The following is a profile about Homefield Apparel, one of the 5 winners moving on to INX this fall.
Homefield Apparel sprang from an obsession with apparel and college sports. When Connor Hitchcock, Founder and CEO of the company, began to hear more and more of his friends complain about their online apparel options, he immediately jumped into research. Homefield Apparel offers that “finally” moment for alumni and fans of schools that are overlooked and have only had the option of buying subpar apparel out of necessity up until now. Consumers expect authenticity and thoughtfulness— core pillars of Homefield’s brand. Homefield’s aim is to provide apparel that is thoughtful in both construction and design for every college fanbase in the country and they hope to be synonymous with college apparel in consumer minds. Connor is most proud of how Homefield Apparel’s product is made because of the incredible amount of care goes into each product. They spend hours, literally hours, doing deep research on every single school they design apparel for in order to find what matters to each school, to find threads of tradition and history. When it comes to physically making the products, Homefield Apparel only uses the best apparel with water-based inks, printed right out of Indiana. Homefield Apparel looks to make a big impact in underrepresented areas of this industry. Schools that are smaller in size or that lack a national “brand” are just two examples of these underserved areas. Women and children also have very limited options when it comes to collegiate apparel made specifically for them, regardless of their school size or national prominence. Their goal is to provide everyone with the opportunity to proudly wear collegiate apparel that makes them look and feel good. Homefield Apparel is one of 5 pitches being sent to INX in Indianapolis. Here’s what Connor had to say about this opportunity: “It’s a great honor to pitch at INX. There are incredible startups that we’ll be sharing the stage with, and it’s humbling to share the stage and compete with them. Winning INX would be monumental for our brand, as it would come 3 weeks after launching it. The exposure, recognition, and of course capital derived from winning would set us on a tremendous course as we look to turn the collegiate apparel market on its head.”
Homefield Apparel sprang from an obsession with apparel and college sports. When Connor Hitchcock, Founder and CEO of the company, began to hear more and more of his friends complain about their online apparel options, he immediately jumped into research. Homefield Apparel offers that “finally” moment for alumni and fans of schools that are overlooked and have only had the option of buying subpar apparel out of necessity up until now. Consumers expect authenticity and thoughtfulness— core pillars of Homefield’s brand. Homefield’s aim is to provide apparel that is thoughtful in both construction and design for every college fanbase in the country and they hope to be synonymous with college apparel in consumer minds. Connor is most proud of how Homefield Apparel’s product is made because of the incredible amount of care goes into each product. They spend hours, literally hours, doing deep research on every single school they design apparel for in order to find what matters to each school, to find threads of tradition and history. When it comes to physically making the products, Homefield Apparel only uses the best apparel with water-based inks, printed right out of Indiana. Homefield Apparel looks to make a big impact in underrepresented areas of this industry. Schools that are smaller in size or that lack a national “brand” are just two examples of these underserved areas. Women and children also have very limited options when it comes to collegiate apparel made specifically for them, regardless of their school size or national prominence. Their goal is to provide everyone with the opportunity to proudly wear collegiate apparel that makes them look and feel good. Homefield Apparel is one of 5 pitches being sent to INX in Indianapolis. Here’s what Connor had to say about this opportunity: “It’s a great honor to pitch at INX. There are incredible startups that we’ll be sharing the stage with, and it’s humbling to share the stage and compete with them. Winning INX would be monumental for our brand, as it would come 3 weeks after launching it. The exposure, recognition, and of course capital derived from winning would set us on a tremendous course as we look to turn the collegiate apparel market on its head.”