Healthy soft drinks startup Rejuvenation Water has turned to the crowd to see the brand through the coronavirus outbreak, having been denied access to a government-backed loan.
The 2016-established business took to Crowdcube this week to raise a minimum of £75k, in exchange of 5.7% of its equity for a valuation of £1.3m.
With 28 days left until the end of its campaign, Rejuvenation Water has already raised over £67k, or 90% of its target.
The brand stressed it was open to overfund to “bolster” its growth plans once the current situation stabilises.
After launching a new canned sparkling range last year, a crowdfunding campaign had always been in the pipeline, said founder Kris Ingham.
“Despite our sales holding up well across our diverse customer base, coronavirus, and its impact on the economy, has meant that we have just speeded up this process,” he added.
“In these unprecedented times, other channels have been overperforming for Rejuvenation Water, with Amazon sales up over 150% over the past two weeks.”
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However, the virus has had a “substantial impact” on other areas of the business, with the “foodservice channel all but closed”, Ingham noted.
He had already been outspoken regarding the lack of support from the government’s coronavirus business interruption loan scheme, which he strongly fears will not benefit challenger brands.
“With the lack of support from the government-backed CBIL scheme for fast-growth companies, we turned to our investor base and network to support us through this uncertainty,” Ingham added.
Rejuvenation Water has been denied its request for a £110k loan to help it through the coronavirus crisis, but has received the £10k cash grant from Wandsworth Council for small businesses qualifying for business rates relief.
Since inception, Rejuvenation Water has secured listings with over 1,500 UK outlets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Ocado as well as foodservice caterers Sodexo, CH&Co and BaxterStorey.
Back in 2017, the business had successfully raised £180k from the crowd to support its initial launch.
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