Tired of stinky uniforms, the LA Dodgers investment team backs a new detergent company

The LA Dodgers are tired of living in filth and are investing in a company called Renegade Brands USA to help clean up their gear.

As workout clothes have gotten fancier — using new materials designed to keep sweat away from the body — they’ve also gotten harder to clean. The new materials trap bacteria and odors in the same way they keep sweat away from a body.

Battling the body odor beasts bedeviling locker rooms across the country is Renegade Brands’ Sweat X sports laundry line. The company has just graduated from the Los Angeles Dodgers startup accelerator and received a commitment of $5 million to start pitching its brand nationwide.

Investors in the round included Eldridge Industries, whose chief executive is a principal owner of the Dodgers; and the Dodgers’ own investment arm, Elysian Park Ventures.

Cleveland-based Renegade already provides detergent to pro-teams including the Yankees, the Cavs, The Mavericks, the Cleveland Indians, and college teams like the Maryland Terrapins, the Univerity of Illinois, and USC’s Trojans. The company’s product is also sold in stores like Dick’s Sporting Goods.

“Sweat X solves a large and growing problem faced by athletes everywhere who wear performance sports apparel,”said Cathy Horton, the founder and chief executive of Renegade Brands. “Although these technical fabrics deliver on their promise to wick sweat and keep athletes dry, they, unfortunately, trap body oils, bacteria and other grime like field paint, grass stains, and dirt, leading to stubborn stench and stains.”

Tucker Kain, the Dodgers’ chief financial officer and a partner at Elysian Park, certainly was persuaded by the company’s detergents.

“The reality is that the underlying chemistries used in laundry detergents haven’t changed in over thirty years, while the sports apparel market has evolved profoundly,” Kain said.