Led · Equity · Jun 2024

Growers Garden produces flavoured crisps from locally sourced ‘wonky’ vegetables, diverting surplus produce that would otherwise go to waste. The business is based in Cupar and operates as a collective of 16 farming families in east Scotland. It has secured supermarket listings and is scaling to meet increased retail demand across the UK. The company has obtained £510,000 of funding from HSBC UK to expand operations. Funds will treble storage capacity to hold the half‑million units of stock needed for new supermarket customers and finance modifications to streamline direct supply to shops. Management frames the move as an ambitious growth step focused on reducing food waste and encouraging healthy eating.

Led · Equity · Apr 2023

myenergi, founded in 2016 and based in Grimsby, UK, manufactures a range of 'eco-smart' home energy technologies. Its products include the solar-compatible zappi electric vehicle charge point, the eddi power diverter, and the libbi smart home battery. The company intends to use new funding for growth, internationalisation, and product development and innovation. It is planning growth in grid services, such as demand side response. Financially, myenergi secured a £30M equity investment from Energy Impact Partners alongside a £30M debt facility from HSBC. As part of the equity investment EIP’s Nazo Moosa will join the myenergi board alongside Sir Terry Leahy and Peter Richardson. Founded in 2016 and based in the UK, myenergi develops smart home energy hardware including the zappi electric-vehicle charger and the eddi solar power diverter. The eddi lets users divert excess PV or wind generation into home heating systems (for example heating water) instead of exporting it to the grid. The company says the new capital will be used to expand operations, enhance production capabilities, and invest in R&D. myenergi reported annual sales in excess of £50 million last year and employs close to 450 people. Management also disclosed an annual turnover rate of more than 180% over the past three years.

Led · Equity · Apr 2022

Alpkit sells cycling and technical outdoor clothing and equipment and plans to expand both its product range and retail footprint. The company will use the £2.7 million financing from HSBC UK to develop a new range of footwear launching this summer and to increase product supply for fast-growing cycling and technical outdoor demand. Alpkit also intends to expand its physical presence across the UK and enhance its digital trading globally. Management said the deal will support investment in innovation to create lower-impact, repairable and recyclable technical outdoor gear. Founded in 2004 and based in the UK, Alpkit employs 85 people and generates annual sales of £7.1 million. Alpkit is a designer and retailer of outdoor clothing and equipment targeting outdoor adventure enthusiasts. Founded in 2004 and based in Newthorpe, Nottingham, all products are designed at the company’s HQ with a focus on technical performance. The company offers over 500 lines across clothing, equipment and bikes. Over the last two years Alpkit has opened its first two stores in the Lake District and Peak District, where staff provide advice, product repairs and run adventure courses. Staff numbers have grown from 12 to 62 in the last four years, and the company aims to create a further 40 jobs over the next three years. Alpkit raised £1m in funding and plans to use the funds to improve its website, add international language sites to grow global online sales, and open new UK stores. Alpkit makes its own-brand outdoor clothing, equipment and custom Sondor titanium bikes and has operated online for over a decade. Founded in 2004 and based in Newthorpe near Nottingham, it opened its first two physical stores in 2017 (Hathersage and Ambleside). The business employs 63 staff and serves a customer base of over 200,000 in the UK and overseas. Under CEO David Hanney (joined 2014) the company has grown six-fold in the past three years and created over 50 jobs. It donates 1% of turnover to the Alpkit Foundation to help remove barriers to outdoor participation. Alpkit says it will use funding to develop its website, enhance its product range, drive international growth and open further UK stores.

Participated · Series A · Nov 2021

Benitago Group incubates and acquires e-commerce brands hyper-optimized for sustainable growth on e-retailer marketplaces such as Amazon, leveraging search trends and sentiment data to identify high-demand categories and niches. Founded in 2016 by Santiago Nestares and Benedict Dohmen, the company has launched over 10 brands and 300 products in-house and has acquired ten brands. In a recent third quarter its brands organically grew 23%, and acquired brands have seen an average post-acquisition growth rate of 31% in the first three months, putting them on track to fully satisfy earnouts. The company decides whether to build product offerings in-house or pursue strategic acquisitions and pairs acquisitions with hands-on post-integration operations. The additional funding will be used to build out its product development studio, scale acquisition of Amazon brands, and expand its brand portfolio across various platforms and channels. Benitago also connects with self-starting Amazon business owners looking to sell and grow their businesses. Benitago Group was launched in 2015 by Santiago Nestares Lampo and Benedict Dohmen and started with a posture-support product called Supportiback. The company has since built a portfolio of beauty, nutrition, maternity, orthopedic, pet supply and electronic brands on Amazon, with a focus on the European market. It operates with no traditional employees and relies on about 40 contractors worldwide and extensive automation and playbooks. The founders report a $25 million run rate and year-over-year revenue growth of 2.3x for the most recently reported month. Benitago uses detailed operational checklists (a reported 500-item checklist) to scale brands reproducibly. The company plans to use the new capital to acquire and build other ultra-lean businesses and to expand its pipeline, which currently includes 12 new brands.