Made in Chelsea confectionery brand Candy Kittens has turned away from the crowd in favour of an angel after securing a “significant injection of private capital”.

The business closed its crowdfunding campaign on the Seedrs platform five days early on Friday after receiving an offer for close to £300,000 from a high-net worth individual.

Candy Kittens, launched by reality TV show star Jamie Laing in 2012, kicked off its crowdfunding pitch for £300,000 on 30 November in the hope of raising marketing cash to capitalise on its new listing in 350 Tesco stores. After three months, the campaign had only reached 79% of its target, with 360 investors pledging £237,000.

Laing and MD Ed Williams put an end to the pitch at 6pm on Friday after receiving an offer from a private investor. The business has also honoured the biggest pledges of the Seedrs campaign, with five other investors taking the total raised to close to £400,000. Candy Kittens gave away an 11% equity stake in the process – 3.5% more than it planned to sell to the crowd.

“This is a win win for us,” Williams told The Grocer. “The investor brings significant added value to the company which will help us further develop our business, elevating Candy Kittens to the next level. We can now push on with our expansion plans and put the investment to good use quickly.”

Despite keeping the identity of the main investor private, Williams added he would not be acting as a silent partner and he was also “a good friend of Candy Kittens” who had invested previously in the business.

“He has considerable business experience and, perhaps most importantly, has given us confidence that he is backing Candy Kittens for the long term.”

Candy Kittens, which is stocked in more than 1,700 Sainsbury’s, Selfridges, Tesco, Topshop, and Waitrose stores across the UK, will use its new funds to launch a “robust” marketing campaign in the summer.

Williams insisted that the Seedrs pitch would have hit the target before Wednesday’s (2 March) deadline and said the amount of interest in the campaign proved the business was an attractive proposition.

“It was a difficult decision to make but one that we believe was the right one for the long-term future of the business,” he added.

Candy Kittens is offering the hundreds of potential Seedrs investors who missed out a complimentary box of sweets and has invited them to become “brand ambassadors”.

Founder Jamie Laing said: “Crowdfunding has been an excellent experience that has highlighted the potential we have. I’m thrilled that we are able to honour all our would-be investors too – their support is really appreciated and I hope they’ll become a big part of the Candy Kittens family.”

Seedrs chief marketing officer Ben Aronsten added the platform had worked with Candy Kittens to try and find a solution but respected the decision to go with the angel investor. “This was obviously disappointing for Seedrs and investors as it’s not aligned to the spirit of crowdfunding, but we wish them the best of luck,” he said.

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