Vijen Patel

Vijen Patel is an American entrepreneur and venture capitalist who founded The 81 Collection and co-founded Pressbox, the on-demand dry cleaning and laundry service acquired by Procter & Gamble in 2018 and rebranded as Tide Cleaners. Based in Chicago, Patel built Pressbox into a national brand that offered 24/7 pickup and delivery through a mobile app, transforming an industry often overlooked by technology innovators.

Patel's path to entrepreneurship began in private equity, where he spent several years evaluating businesses and investment opportunities. In 2013, he made the counterintuitive decision to leave the stability of finance to pursue what he later described as the "least-worst idea" - modernizing dry cleaning. He co-founded Pressbox with Drew McKenna, starting small and scaling through a combination of technology and operational excellence that ultimately caught Procter & Gamble's attention.

The acquisition by P&G represented a rare exit for a service business in the "boring" category. Patel served as CEO of Tide Cleaners, leading the integration and rebranding effort that brought Pressbox's on-demand model to a much wider audience through P&G's retail network. Following the transition, he became a founding partner at The 81 Collection, a venture firm focused on backing founders building lasting businesses in overlooked sectors - a mission informed by his own experience building in an industry most entrepreneurs ignore.

Beyond Pressbox, Patel has maintained involvement in sports as part-owner of One Knox SC, a USL League One soccer club based in Knoxville. His story has appeared in multiple podcasts and publications, often pointing out how some of the most successful companies emerge from industries that don't typically attract Silicon Valley attention.