Eco household brand Cheeky Panda has welcomed thousands of new shareholders after closing its latest round of crowdfunding ahead of a planned IPO.
The business raised £2.8m from 2,002 backers on Seedrs in a month-long campaign to bring in funds to maintain rapid growth, comfortably exceeding its £1m target.
It takes the amount raised from the crowd to almost £10m over four rounds, which Cheeky Panda said made it the most successful crowdfunded B-Corp to date.
The company – which was valued at £82m before the start of the latest campaign – now has more than 5,000 crowd investors on its share register.
Cheeky Panda said the successful raise put it “in great stead” for the planned IPO in 2023 or 2024, with funds generated to be channelled into three areas: bolstering the management team in the run up to the float, marketing to support consumer and retail outreach, and working capital to support trade and invoice finance.
The business plans to raise up to £35m in a private institutional funding round later this year, ahead of a public listing on the main market of the London Stock Exchange in 2023 or 2024, which could value the sustainable bamboo hygiene brand at upwards of £300m.
CEO and co-founder Julie Chen said: “Surpassing our target almost threefold in just four weeks is a significant feat and a testament that our business model and growth plans have struck a chord with investors who share our optimism and vision for sustainable hygiene.”
Cheeky Panda is set to host its first ‘Pandamonium’ shareholder conference in 2023, taking inspiration from craft brewer BrewDog, which holds an annual event for its thousands of equity punk backers.
Chen added: “We couldn’t be more grateful for the support from our ‘Pandanauts’ who have taken Cheeky Panda to new heights and will be rewarding that investor faith with our inaugural ‘Pandamonium’ festival and more exciting plans ahead across the next year.”
Founded by Chen and partner Chris Forbes in 2016, Cheeky Panda uses bamboo to make and package toilet tissue, kitchen roll, face wipes, natural straws and other sustainable products.
It has sold in excess of 12 million products in more than 25 markets across Europe, the US, China and the Middle East.
The business has scaled rapidly in the past three years, growing sales from £100k in 2017 to £5.7m in 2020 and an expected £11m in 2021.
It forecast revenues would surpass £20m in 2022 ahead of listing on the main market of London Stock Exchange.
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