What If You Didn’t Have to Wait for the Grant?

A quiet invitation to researchers who are tired of asking permission to build the future.

Jul 01, 2025

You have the protocol.
You have the data.
You have the need.
But you don’t have the funding.

And you’re not alone.

We’ve heard this from cannabis researchers. From AI ethicists. From people trying to run small, clean trials on plant compounds or chronic conditions with no pharma support. Not because the work isn’t valuable—but because the system wasn’t built to fund things like this.

So we’re building something that does.

✳️ Founder Drops for Researchers

At Business Casual, we fund R&D through apparel—quietly, seriously, and without hype.

Founder Drop 001 is already underway. It’s helping fund the design of a licensed cannabis research facility between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Now we’re expanding the model.

We're opening Founder Drops for academics—researchers who want to self-fund a study, license, or facility through a single, limited-edition product drop.

Not merch. Not performative.
Infrastructure, disguised as culture.

Who It’s For

Researchers working in cannabis, psychedelics, chronic conditions, or AI ethics
Scientists exploring treatments for underfunded conditions like EDS
Investigators navigating long grant delays or institutional resistance
Academics who want to publish, test, or prototype without selling out

What You Get

A hoodie, or product, co-designed with your field and message in mind
Access to our network of story-first brand support
Full backend—design, fulfillment, shipping, margin modeling
100% of profits toward your R&D goal (license application, IRB approval, early trials, site feasibility, etc.)
Buy The Hoodie, Support R&D

You focus on the research.
We’ll help fund it—one Drop at a time.

This Isn’t Merch. It’s Correction.

We’re not here to brand ideas. We’re here to fund them.
Every Founder Drop is designed with structure in mind—legal, logistical, financial. The type of support most labs never get until it’s too late.

If your work is being slowed by red tape, lack of infrastructure, or funding fatigue—this might be the model.

You Don’t Need 10,000 Followers. You Need 100 Supporters.

We’re not selling virality.
We’re building something quietly resilient. Something you can hand to a potential funder and say:
"This hoodie funded the first trial."

Ready to Talk?

The first cohort of academic Founder Drops opens soon.
If this sounds like something you’d build with us:

Business Casual