Bang Curry has raised a six-figure crowdfunding sum in an effort to expand its team and grow sales across the UK.
Launched in 2014 by Shelly Nuruzzaman and husband Mark Johnson, the scratch-cooking curry mix maker sought £100k in return for 10% of its equity, valuing the company at £1m pre-funding.
Bang was able to exceed this target within two days of launching publicly on Crowdcube with 119 investors joining in so far to raise £115k.
“We ecstatic, we are so thrilled [for the campaign’s success]. It was so unexpected to have completed the fundraise in such a short time. We are still getting over the euphoria,” Nuruzzaman told The Grocer.
“We knew that we would reach our target at some point but within two days that was pretty phenomenal. It has given us such a boost about how to proceed now that we have got the funding we planned for.”
The company – which currently employs 3 staff members - will use the money to increase workforce, mainly within sales & marketing, to allow for brand awareness development and volume growth.
Face-to-face marketing, targeted via cooking classes and demonstrations, will remain a “key part” of the company’s strategy, complemented by digital marketing across social media platforms, including Instagram TV.
Nuruzzaman explained: “The key is establishing our brand in that core corner of the scratch-cooking market. We have a robust supply chain in place so now is all about distribution and increasing our reach.”
Bang is also considering NPD to avoid being “stagnant” and evolve beyond the core range.
Bang Curry’s eight low calorie kits are currently stocked in Morrisons and Wholefoods, as well as being available on Amazon. Discussions with a number of other “major” UK supermarkets are also ongoing.
The brand achieved over 100k unit sales in the year to February 2018. Bang said the success of its curries is because they allow the consumers to put “their own stamp on them” without losing the guaranteed authentic flavour.
“It feels crazy. We started quite humbly on a market stall and we did it very organically and it feels surreal to be featuring on real shelves within grocers,” Nuruzzaman said.
Bang collaborated with Hello Fresh in 2016 reaching over 70k of the meal-subscription box service’s customers. The brand it is now in talks with similar services, which “feel like a perfect fit” for its own curry kits.
Internationally, Bang Curry is aiming to grow exports, with Germany and the Scandinavian countries proving as particularly strong markets.
However in the first year following the fundraise, securing sales in the UK will remain the priority before planning further expansion.
“We are having conversations with some EU distributors, but it is not our highest focus at the moment. We are having to stop ourselves as we want to secure the UK market first of all,” Nuruzzaman said.
Financially, in the first year following the fundraise Bang Curry is targeting revenue of £406k with volume sales trebling to 301k units. It is targetting sales of £2.2m within three years and £5.8m in five years.
Nuruzzaman concluded: “In a year’s time I see the on-boarding of new customers more established, I see us having more listings and a having a more secure supply chain that can increase as volume comes in.”
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