Rachel JAMES is a luxury casual menswear label that featured in London’s men’s fashion week in January this year.
The Creative Director, Rachel James is a British menswear designer and BA (Hons) graduate of Fashion Design from the University of Westminster. During her education she gained invaluable experience working within all areas of the fashion industry, from design to production, pattern cutting to print, PR to Sales at companies including Acne Studios, Todd Lynn and Christian Dior.
However it could be argued her rise in the fashion ranks is owed to a rather fortuitous event during a graduate internship at an Australian fashion house.
People who eventually go on to become huge successes often get a lucky break somewhere along the line. Rachel had hers in 2013 when she was interning at Australian fashion designer Josh Goot in Sydney. While working in the fashion label’s studio, the brand’s design co-ordinater unexpectedly went on leave, leaving Rachel to take charge of many of his duties as well as her own – leading a team of around 10 employees and overseeing both design and production of the collection at that time. She performed her impromptu role so impeccably well that she was instructed to lead a project to re-define and re-design the whole design process within the company – ultimately setting her on the path to understanding what it takes to become a fully-fledged menswear designer.
Fast forward a few months to 2015 and Rachel’s passion for her work and hunger for recognition were two characteristics that helped her secure an invitation to show her new collection at men’s fashion week in London (LC:M) earlier this year. For a graduate designer this is unheard of; applicants typically have 4/5 seasons behind them before they are considered for any space at such a prestigious event. The exhibition proved a great success for showcasing, networking and publicising the brand: Rachel JAMES has since been invited to showcase again this season, has been featured in Italian Vogue and has had pieces requested to style British artists Calvin Harris, Tom Odell, Mark Ronson and Skepta.
From the debut, the label’s PR team have been inundated with press requests and website traffic was given a huge boost. The company is now ready to start making sales with the online shop having just opened for business.
The designer is offering a 25% equity for £50,000 investment.
This is a brand that designs and produces creative, exciting, casual menswear, using luxurious fabrics and impeccable 100% British manufacturing. It is offering investors the chance to come onboard at an early stage.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£8,050
Square Root (SR) aims to shake up the adult soft drinks market with its range of high-quality, fresh-pressed, small-batch sodas that contain no concentrates or artificial flavours. SR's product line includes classics, seasonal specialities, perfect serve tonics, and alcohol-free cocktails. SR asserts that unlike other craft soft drinks firms, it fully owns the soda making process from concept to bottling. The company has sold 3 million bottles to date with its products stocked in 9 Michelin star restaurants. SR has also crowdsourced a mojito recipe, secured a listing as part of the Sainsbury’s Future Brands scheme, and created collaborative-branded tonics for high-end clients like Gymkhana and Pantechnicon. The company was the winner of 3 Great Taste awards in 2019 and adjudged 'Best Drinks Producer' at the 2015 BBC Food & Farming Awards. It will use the investment to launch into the off-trade, meet increased demand, upscale its marketing strategy, and launch its drinks in cans.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£572,128
Planks is a ski brand producing professional performance ski apparels & streetwear. Planks has a list of leading stockists including Snow&Rock, ASOS and Ellis Brigham. The company also has four retail stores and cafe in some of Europe’s top ski resorts including Val d'lsere, Tignes, Morzine and Meribel. It has witnessed strong YoY growth in the last 12months (EBITDA -£581k) because of its strong followings amongst travel agencies. The company has received 15000+ online order from 15 countries in the last 12 months. The company will use the funds to expand its business in each resort globally.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£343,470
Small Beer Brewing Company specialises in brewing classic beer with an Alcohol By Volume (ABV) below 2.8% without any loss in flavour. The company asserts that the beer market is worth £18.4 billion in the UK and over £520 billion globally. In the UK, the 'Low & No' category sits at £450 million. The company aims to be a major contender in this category. It is already exporting its products to Iceland, Singapore, Hong Kong & Spain. The company's stockists include entities like Majestic Wine, Ocado and Waitrose. It will use the investment to fund its expansion both in the UK & foreign markets.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£750,004
Marine Power Systems (MPS) is a company that has developed a technology that can harness wind power, wave power or combined wind and wave energy at grid scale. MPS estimates global electricity consumption as a £2 trillion annual market that is growing with a need for harnessing renewable energy sources. The company's mission is to be a world leader in the manufacturing and supply of marine energy extraction hardware. MPS completed a multi-million-pound project to design, manufacture and sea test a 1:4 scale prototype at Falmouth, UK. The company will use the investment to match-fund £17 million of non-dilutive government grant funding that is already secured for a project to design, manufacture and test a full-scale device demonstrator that will prove the technology is ready for commercial scaling.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£2,151,815
Catipilla designs, manufactures and retails a range of high quality, functional, wall-mounted climbing frames, resting points, and scratchers to create unique living spaces for cats. The company asserts that the cat segment of the pet market is worth an estimated £5 billion in the UK alone. It wants to become a contender in this segment. Catipilla has sold 2,000+ products across 16 countries, listed at retailer Pets at Home, and became a finalist in the PetQuip '2018 Product of the Year' in the past three years. Catipilla's products are situated in vet practices, catteries, and cat rescue centres. The company claims that it is endorsed by International Cat Care and has a partnership with IAMS, a global pet food giant. After a 5.36 times increase in orders during the 2020 lockdown (compared to Q2 and Q3 2019), Catipilla requires investment to scale up sales, distribution, manufacturing, and export capability.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£196,702
Nimble produces a range of child-friendly household cleaning products. These award-winning products have already been distributed in Taiwan, Middle East, Philippines, and the UK. All the Nimble products are sold in stores such as Boots.com, 375 Sainsbury’s stores, and 86 Boots stores. The company has patented its Milk Buster technology and has been awarded by the BBC with the 'The Customer is Always Right' award. Nimble has sold more than 80,000 units since its launch in 2016. With the proceeds, the company will execute an initial launch marketing activities for Sainsbury’s and growth in Boots.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£242,780
Vitae London is a fashion brand producing water-resistant, stainless steel casing, and high-quality watches. For every watch sold, the company supports a South African child by providing all the resources they need for education. Vitae London has sold its products in over 30 countries and has distributed over 2,000 items of school uniform to children in need. It has been featured in CNN and BBC, and has been endorsed by Pharrell Williams, Richard Branson and many more high-profile names. The company is raising funds to make key hiring, launch US fulfilment site, and drive marketing channels.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£109,536
Andersen fills the gap by producing intelligent, strong and customizable charging points that can be happily used by customers at home. It has proved itself as a premium provider in the rapidly growing electric vehicle home charger market. The company has witnessed an increase in growth by 10x in 2018 and a third of all sales in the last three months. Andersen has been featured in The Times, BBC London and much more famous press. The company has received 5* on Google review and 'Great' on Trustpilot. It will be using funds to scale up the production and accelerate the growth.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£588,560
Alert Technology Limited is set to transform health and safety best practice for asbestos management by introducing ALERT - a new generation of real-time asbestos monitoring. With the large potential market, Alert will give market priority to the sectors who have demonstrated the greatest need. ALERT is the only solution to the global problem that impacts 30+ industry sectors. Till now, they have successfully launched the ALERT PRO 1000-the first model in the range and won an industry award in the asbestos category. With the investment, they will strengthen their team by recruiting a new Sales Director, Technical Sales Support, Technicians and Service Engineers to boost the in-house team, expand distribution, drive sales, scale-up assembly and service customers.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£10,000
