Eco tissue products challenger Naked Sprout has raised more than twice its targeted goal in a crowdfunding campaign as it seeks to shake up the category and take on sustainable rival Cheeky Panda.
More than 560 backers have invested £510k at the time of publishing, with the Seedrs pitch to close next week. The campaign set out to raise £250k and values the business at £6.5m.
The rapidly growing brand makes toilet rolls, kitchen rolls and tissues from 100% unbleached bamboo, which gives the product a brown finish rather than the traditional white, and uses no plastics or “harsh” chemicals.
Co-founders Leila Francis Coleman and Thomas Whelan started Naked Sprout in 2020 with a mission to reinvent the way tissue products are made.
It has already sold more than three-million toilet rolls and generated revenues of £2.1m in its first 18 months on its DTC website.
With an annualised run rate of £2m, the business said it was growing faster in its first year than eco rival Cheeky Panda.
Whelan told The Grocer: “The number of investors [in the Seedrs campaign] is just as important as the funds raised, as it’s all about creating an army of ambassadors to help us in our mission.
“We are ambitious and have exciting plans to expand our product range, develop retail and grow internationally.”
Naked Sprout, which has attained B-Corp status, claims to be the UK’s most sustainable tissue product brand, according to its own research.
The products are made in a B-Corp certified factory in Europe that is powered entirely by renewable energy, which the business said was leading the way with carbon neutral, bleach and fossil fuel free manufacturing.
“The Cheeky Panda have really disrupted the tissue market and shown consumers there’s an alternative to wood-based products,” Whelan added.
“We’re going one step further by challenging the nature of the underlying product.”
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