Twipes in America: A recap of our first year

A photo of Twipes cofounders Al and Elle in a paddle boat holding up an American flag and a pack of Twipes to celebrate the company's expansion to America.
On April 4, 2023 Twipes officially launched in the United States, establishing its second headquarters in Buffalo, N.Y. One year later, we look back on the highlights of our first year in America, and we take a look ahead to continued growth in the U.S., expansion throughout Europe and other plans for the future.
A photo of Twipes cofounders Al and Elle in a paddle boat holding up an American flag and a pack of Twipes to celebrate the company's expansion to America.

On April 4, 2023 Twipes officially launched in the United States, establishing its second headquarters in Buffalo, N.Y. One year later, we look back on the highlights of our first year in America, and we take a look ahead to continued growth in the U.S., expansion throughout Europe and other plans for the future.

Founded in London, United Kingdom in 2015, Twipes expanded after winning the annual competition run by Buffalo startup accelerator 43North in November 2022. Just months later, Twipes’ team of directors was in America, making plans for the company’s U.S. launch.

On April 4, CEO Al Bozorgi, COO Elle McIntosh and CGO Liz Kotoulis officially launched the product and began taking the next steps toward growing the company stateside. In the summer, Twipes hired marketing representatives Tabi Raithel and Elizabeth Dodman, head of communications and public relations Adam Duke and administrative assistant Cassidy Regan.

With the newly added team members Twipes’ first public appearances in the States, including the Kenmore Farmers Market and Derby’s “Arts on the Water” event in New York State.

Al and Tabi also attended PopSugar’s Play/Ground event in Los Angeles to introduce Twipes to the West Coast. The event featured instructional sessions with dancers, fitness instructors, and Peloton instructor Cody Rigsby of TikTok fame. Pop star Chloe Bailey also performed an acoustic set at Play/Ground and gave an inspirational talk.

Twipes became part of several prestigious programs in the fall and winter, including Morgan Stanley’s Inclusive Ventures Lab and Innovate UK’s Global Incubator Progamme.

Twipes was the only company founded in the U.K. to be named part of Morgan Stanley’s American cohort in the winter. We were one of 23 companies in the cohort, which included Nopalera, which manufactures bath and body products made from cacti and digital security company Tall Poppy.

Cofounders Elle and Al presented on Morgan Stanley’s Demo Day and Twipes received a massive congratulations in Times Square.

The founders also took part in startup week events on both coasts. The first was Startup Week Buffalo, where Al spoke about sales and marketing on a panel with Emily Mahaffy of IT firm EmergenceTek, Patrick O’Brien of mortgage lending company LenderLogix and Dante Richardson of studio e-commerce company Stooty. At the same time, Elle was part of a panel that discussed founding a company in your early 20s, alongside founders from five other companies.

Elle then traveled across the country to Washington State for Startup Week Tacoma, where she joined HR professional and podcast host Jason Cavness on a panel to discuss the challenges that come with founding a startup. At the beginning of March, Elle returned to Washington and joined Cavness for his podcast, “The Jason Cavness Experience.” A replay of the podcast can be listened to at this link.

Twipes also gave back to its new community, participating in Buffalo’s toiletry donation drive, and donating 200 packs of wet wipes to local homeless shelters.

In March, to wrap up our first year in the America, Twipes landed in its first retail store stateside — Thistle and Shamrock in Cambridge, Mass.

But Twipes isn’t stopping with the American expansion.

One of the next steps for Twipes is establishing another headquarters — this one in the European Union, where we will have greater access to the E.U. market.

To do this, Twipes is utilizing the support of the Vienna Business Agency. In November, Twipes attended the Wolves Summit in Vienna and learned the basics about establishing a company in Europe and will continue its relationship with the organization as it continues to grow.

In addition to a myriad of accomplishments and events, Twipes has also learned a lot in its first year in America. To learn more about what we’ve learned as a company, click here.

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