(Minneapolis, MN // April 10, 2025) – Cold, the sustainability management platform that leverages AI to streamline compliance for leading outdoor and apparel brands, and Outdoor Industry Association (OIA), a member-based collective of business leaders, climate experts, policy makers, and outdoor enthusiasts, today announced an official partnership to bring Cold’s solution to more OIA members at a time of mounting regulatory complexity and burden.
In response to regulatory rollback at the federal level, states are stepping in to fill the void by enacting their own environmental legislation, creating a patchwork of regulations that has become increasingly challenging for businesses to navigate. As a result, sustainability leaders are spending more and more of their time on compliance, which comes at a significant opportunity cost. Cold launched its platform in early 2024 to provide organizations with a more efficient alternative to manual regulatory tracking and reporting.
The OIA partnership comes just as Cold is rolling out an end-to-end Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) compliance solution for its customers, helping companies to meet deadlines and requirements in Oregon, California, and Colorado with more states to follow.
“Manual compliance and reporting takes time and resources, which are precious commodities for small and midsize companies, especially in today’s challenging economic environment,” said Eric Dayton, founder and CEO at Cold. “Cold solves this problem by centralizing and automating compliance so that business leaders can focus on the work that matters most.”
Prior to Cold, Dayton founded Askov Finlayson, a climate positive winter outerwear company and only the fourth in the outdoor apparel industry to achieve B Corp certification. Cold’s co-founder, Dan Lindquist, brings extensive experience creating innovative SaaS solutions as the co-founder and former Chief Product Officer at Mainstreet.
“In our conversations with OIA members, we consistently hear about the mounting pressure of compliance and reporting as they navigate new regulations,” said Julie Brown, Director of Sustainable Business Innovation at OIA. “We have confidence in Cold’s solution to this challenge, and the feedback from our members who are already using the platform has been overwhelmingly positive.”
Leading brands in the apparel and outdoors industries — including Bombas, Topo Designs, Outdoor Research, Faherty, and Peak Design — trust Cold to streamline compliance and automate their sustainability reporting. The platform helps organizations save valuable time, unlock new markets, and protect against risk.
“As the pile of compliance requirements grow, I have found myself spending more time filling out reports than doing the actual work of making Peak a more sustainable company,” said Annie Nyborg, Head of Environmental and Social Impact at Peak Design, an OIA member. “Cold allows me to focus on driving progress while they take care of the reporting.”
Cold is backed by a strong team of advisors and investors with deep retail industry backgrounds, including Doug Baker, former CEO of Ecolab and current Target board member, Michael Francis, Target’s former CMO, and Archie Black, who served as the longtime CEO at SPS Commerce. Cold’s $2.65M pre-seed round in 2024 was led by York IE, with participation from Better Ventures.
Visit www.coldclimate.com to learn more and schedule a demo.
ABOUT COLD
Cold Climate PBC is a sustainability management platform that streamlines compliance for organizations of all sizes. Leading brands trust Cold to automate reporting so that they can focus on the work that matters. Visit www.coldclimate.com to learn more.
ABOUT OUTDOOR INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION
Based in Boulder, Colo., with offices in Washington, D.C., Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) is a catalyst for meaningful change. A member-based collective, OIA is a passionate group of business leaders, climate experts, policy makers and outdoor enthusiasts committed to sustainable economic growth while protecting – and growing access to – the benefits of the outdoors for everyone. For more than 30 years, OIA has catalyzed a thriving outdoor industry by supporting the success of every member company across four critically aligned areas: market research, sustainability, government affairs, and inclusive participation. OIA delivers success for its members through education, events, and business services in the form of solutions and strategies, consultation, collaboration, and opportunities for collective action. For more information, visit outdoorindustry.org.
Media Contacts
Eric Dayton
Cold
Andriana Rogers
Outdoor Industry Association
arogers@outdoorindustry.org
