Olympic Brothers Alistair, Jonathan Brownlee Back 'Bike Floss' Supplier Purple Harry

Olympic triathletes Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee are such fans of "bike floss," which is used to clean the bike gears, that "they are now backing supplier Purple Harry financially," according to Vicki Owen of the London DAILY MAIL. Richard Hargreaves and Dean Perry "had the idea for the product in a pub after a long ride." Their Derby firm, Purple Harry, has raised £83,250 ($136,700) "to fund expansion through 161 investors on crowdfunding site Crowdcube." The Brownlee brothers "were the last backers," on Dec. 30. The friends "targeted cycling fans to invest in return for a discount on products." Perry said, "I had been made redundant twice and Richard was in a job he didn’t like. We both worked in logistics. I thought: 'I’m just over 40, he’s 40. It is time for us to do something for ourselves.' Crowdfunding appealed to us because we wanted to involve cyclists. Now cyclists might tell their friends 'buy Purple Harry because I own part of it'" (DAILY MAIL, 1/5).