Kiwi travel gear start up gets kickstart boost

Francesca Logan, left, and Jordan Abrahams, both 23, founded Elephant Stripes, a retailer that specialises in travel gear for women. Photo / Supplied

A travel gear start-up aimed at adventurous women has received a strong backing after a Kickstarter campaign.

Two young New Zealanders have created a brand of colourful travel gear after a "re-think" of how women want to travel.

Elephant Stripes markets fashionable and functional travel gear for sale online.

The co-founders of the company, Francesca Logan and Jordan Abrahams, both aged 23, met at Victoria University in Wellington and bonded over a love of travel.

Elephant Stripes backpacks are designed to be fashionable and functional. Photo / Supplied

The company's Kickstarter campaign raised over $20,000 in two weeks, with backers from over 15 countries.

"Using this platform has meant we could show our product to a large global audience who can back our idea and be first to receive the packs," Logan said.

The concept of re-thinking how women want to travel came when the pair were buying travel gear for a backpacking trip around South East Asia. Logan said they found they couldn't find backpacks that looked attractive while being functional.

"We found that most packs were made for hiking, not travelling. The result was ugly, top-loading bags, with straps hanging off everywhere; not ideal for travel."

Logan and Abrahams want to be part of the new generation of entrepreneurs who do well while doing good and Elephant Stripes has partnered with the Bali Children's Project.

For every bag sold during the Kickstarter campaign a school bag will be offered to an Indonesian child in need.

"We are in the process of moving to fully recycled packaging and aim to use recycled fabrics in future, and hope to join with other women entrepreneurs and become involved in elephant rescue projects," Logan said.

The duo also carefully selected a manufacturer in Indonesia that best aligned with their values, and set up a charitable foundation which owns a portion of the business.