Ex-Citadel trader raises $1.2m for clothing refresher spray

Maria Cabral Menezes has raised $1.2m to sell a spray that refreshes clothing between washes, according to Inc., which first reported the round.

She previously traded at J.P. Morgan and at Citadel.

The pitch rests on a domestic habit rather than a technology: the chair in the bedroom where worn-but-not-dirty clothes pile up. The product is meant to make that pile wearable again without a wash cycle.

The stated benefit is time saved. Fewer washes means fewer loads, and fewer loads means fewer evenings spent on laundry.

The investors behind the $1.2m have not been named. Nor has the company published pricing, launch dates or sales figures.

For founders leaving finance, the round is a small data point on a familiar question: whether a trading CV counts for anything when the product is a bottle rather than a book of positions. On the evidence here, it was enough to close $1.2m from someone.

What it is not yet is evidence that people will buy the spray. That number is the one to watch, and it has not been made public.

More: Washwise