Upkept receives $100,000, names inaugural board

Upkept, a Rogers-based garment repair startup, recently closed on a $100,000 friends-and-family funding round. It also named its inaugural board of directors as it builds technology and logistics infrastructure for apparel repair.

The round was oversubscribed and included nine investors, six of whom were first-time startup investors. Founder and CEO Robin Wallis Atkinson said the participation shows growing confidence in the company’s vision and brings new investors into the area startup ecosystem. The money will be used to support technology development, expand repair capabilities and build out its business-to-business infrastructure.

According to Upkept, the repair market could reach $11.8 billion if every U.S. adult repaired two garments annually. Each year, Americans discard about 81 pounds of clothing per person.

Upkept was founded in April 2025, launched a beta platform in June and released its consumer repair platform in October. The online platform allows customers to send garments to Upkept for repair, including hems, seam repairs and hole fixes. The company serves customers nationwide.

“Repair does not exist at scale because the infrastructure to make it convenient and consistent has never been built,” Atkinson said. “This round helps us invest in the technology and operational capacity needed to make repair accessible for consumers and actionable for brands.”

Atkinson previously founded Interform, an area nonprofit that built repair and manufacturing programs with apparel brands and trained garment workers from immigrant and refugee communities.

Since its launch, Upkept has completed repairs from 16 states. Upkept’s average turnaround time is seven to 10 days. Its business model comprises a direct-to-consumer repair platform and business-to-business services for apparel companies, including remanufacturing and small-batch production.

The startup’s board of directors includes Atkinson; co-founder Dr. Cash Acrey, chief financial and technology officer; and Ellie Bertani, president and CEO of GitLab Foundation.

Upkept has eight employees and contractors who support operations, customer service, fulfillment and technology.