Michael Markesbery

About

OROS designs, develops, integrates, and markets a line of extreme outerwear using its patented Aerogel-based SolarCore technology that is considered the “best insulation on the planet.” Developed from the NASA technology used for space suits, the space shuttle, and the Mars Rovers, OROS infused Aerogel to create Solarcore, helping to make outerwear thinner, warmer, and more flexible.

A 2015 graduate of The Brandery, the company raised a $2.0M seed round led by NCT Ventures with Fengshion Capital in 2016. Closed two follow-on seed+ stage rounds that total more than $8 million, one completed in 2018 and another in 2019, that includes investments by Listen Ventures, In-Q-Tel, Ridgeline Ventures, Break Trail Ventures, Elizabeth Street Ventures, RedHawk Ventures, retired Goldman Sachs Director Eric Dobkin, Misfit Wearables founder Sonny Vu, and retired Grainger CEO Jim Ryan. In October 2019, the company announced a multi-year $2 million subcontract under an Other Transaction Authority prototype agreement (pOTA) from the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center (CCDC-SC) Division of the United States Department of Defense.

Since its commercial launch in 2015, OROS has sold more than $10M of its extreme outerwear gear to customers in more than 100 countries worldwide, and today, the company’s proprietary insulative technology, SolarCore, is featured in other brands products, such as LL Bean’s boots, Cabela’s boots, and John Deere gloves, among others.

Michael was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 List of Top Disruptive Entrepreneurs in the U.S. in Retail & eCommerce in 2018 and was a member of Miami University’s distinguished 18 of the Last 9 List of Top Gradates in 2017. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Zoology and Animal Biology and a minor in Entrepreneurship from Miami University.