ASHEVILLE – Before becoming an entrepreneur, Alex Matisse received formal training as a potter.
Masisse completed an apprenticeship in 2009, and set out to make his own pottery, on what he describes as a “gloomy old Madison County tobacco farm.”
By 2013, Matisse, his spouse Connie, and John Vigeland, had founded East Fork Pottery, and were operating a traditional wood-fired kiln, crafting ceramic products.
Now, the three co-founders now helm a 120-employee company that just completed a $3 million Series A round led by the Pentland Group.
That investment will lead to major capital improvements in the company’s two facilities, and to additional employee and job growth, said Matisse in an interview with WRAL TechWire.
It wasn’t inevitable, said Matisse. It took time, and it took what Matisse described as “a hard left turn” in how the company operated.
The result?
The company expects to be able to produce and sell 350,000 ceramic products this year, and could increase production next year to more than a million items.
“We’ve gone through the industrial revolution in a period of about four years,” said Matisse. “It’s been a wild ride, and not always an easy one.”
East Fork Pottery Co-Founders. East Fork Pottery Image.
What led to the pivot
Ceramics became “en vogue” again, said Matisse. Meanwhile, consumer behavior was moving toward e-commerce, and that led to an emerging direct-to-consumer approach that companies could use.
“We shifted completely,” said Matisse. The first major decision: transitioning their production from a traditional wood-fired kiln to a technology-enabled, automated kiln from Netherlands.
Next, the company launched a new and update website, and expanded the products it offered.
Then, said Matisse, came an initial round of seed funding from angel investors, who were interested in the long-term prospects of the company and its founders, said Matisse. That enabled the company to expand into its first facility, 14,000 square feet of space, from which it still operates a portion of its manufacturing and production business.
“We’re a dynamic, very passionate, group of folks that is trying to do something differently,” said Matisse. “We’re interested in building a company for the home like Patagonia has built for the outdoor industry,” he added.
Not only do the company’s facilities—they’ve since expanded into an additional 30,000 square-foot facility down the road from their initial location—rely on automation and advanced manufacturing technology, the company is integrating technology across its functions.
“We’re embracing new technologies around e-commerce,” said Matisse, noting that the company performs its own fulfillment operations in-house. “We sell the majority of what we make online, and we’ve manufactured and made it all ourselves,” said Matisse.
“We’ve just invested in a bunch of new technology, to streamline the processes,” said Matisse about the in-house fulfillment function.
With increasing demand coming through e-commerce channels, the company has seen accelerated growth, as well. As demand increased, Matisse and his co-founders considered other capital expenditure investments they could make to increase manufacturing capacity.
They settled on investing in technology, and investing in their employees.
“We’ve embraced technology in the manufacturing process, a lot,” said Matisse. “We see embracing automation as the only real way to provide living wage jobs to folks,” he noted.
The company recently earned certification as a benefit corporation, or B-Corp, and is among the newest such companies in the state, Matisse said. That designation is a byproduct of the company’s focus, though, noted Matisse, which is building a company that ensures its employees earn a living wage.
Starting salary is currently $20 per hour, said Matisse, noting that next year, starting salary will increase to $22.50 per hour.
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With the Series A funding, $3 million is coming into the company, according to an SEC filing.
Part of that money will go toward additional manufacturing capacity, with the installation of two additional kilns in the new facility, said Matisse.
“We’re constantly outgrowing the space we’re in,” said Matisse. “We’ve been able to hit our goals without slamming customer acquisition,” he added, noting that the company is in the process of “ramping up our customer acquisition flywheel right now.”
That’s because of the investments they’ve selected, he noted.
“Our capacity is increasing with all of the new equipment and new investment we’ve made,” said Matisse. “The investment we’ve made right now, will enable us to make a million pieces of pottery each year,” he added, which could put the company into the top three manufacturers of dinnerware in the country, he said.
“We’re bringing in a bunch of new equipment,” said Matisse. “Some of the most advanced forming machines that money can buy.”
The company also plans to invest in a formal product department, so it can manufacture and produce a variety of white-labeled products that can correspond to its core product lines, while also adding products like a large serving platter, additional mugs, additional vases, and more, to “continue to round out the current collection,” said Matisse.
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Bringing more business functions in house
But that’s just the start of what Matisse envisions for the company.
The company plans to invest $1 million into adding the capacity for in-house clay-making and clay reclamation, said Matisse.
“Securing our supply chain by investing in all of this equipment, which we’re really excited about.”
For Matisse, it’s about economic stability.
“The more we have control,” he said. “The more stable we’ll be.”
“Currently, we buy clay from down the road,” he explained. “But we’re relying on somebody else to make the most important part of our process.”
Bringing that function in-house, like the company’s fulfillment center, will result in significant cost savings, and an increase in control, said Matisse. “Our processes require specific hardness, so we’ll get control.”
“Right now, our north star is profitability,” said Matisse. “We’re not going to be a company that gets close to $1 billion in sales but is still burning through cash.”
After making these investments, the company will still have room to grow, Matisse said.
His vision?
“Our goal is to be in a new campus, by 2025,” said Matisse. “Everything from our factory to a hand thrown studio, on site childcare, event space, restaurants, and smaller spaces for other companies that have a dedication to manufacturing, to provide some shared resources.”
“We’d like to do this with debt financing, if possible,” he noted. “But I’m sure we’ll raise capital at some point, there is a lot of money out there that is interested in putting money where their values are, and we’re a good candidate for that, and we’ll need to provide liquidity for our investors.”
