FoCo watch startup closes on $500,000 investment

FORT COLLINS — Vortic Watch Co. closed on $500,000 in investment from Rockies Venture Club and two Techstars co-founders.

It’s the second round of investment for Vortic, which makes wristwatches from refurbished antique pocket watches, and includes investment from David Brown and David Cohen, both co-founders of Techstars. Vortic gained the attention of Brown and Cohen at Fort Collins Startup Week earlier this year, when it won a pitch competition during the event.

“Every watch we handcraft has a story, and we have repeatedly seen that there is growing market demand for handcrafted analog timepieces in our digital world,” said Vortic co-founder and CEO R.T. Custer in a prepared statement.  “Thanks to these investments, we have developed some exciting product lines and affinity partnerships that will bring Vortic watches to retail stores around the country.”

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Since being founded in 2013 by Custer and Tyler Wolfe, Vortic has been refurbishing American-made pocket watches using 3D printing metal to turn them into bespoke wristwatches. In 2017 Vortic sold 400 watches and is on track to sell 700 in 2018.