This week, Crowdcube sat down with one of the #FundedClub members, Scaramouche & Fandango, to discuss its growth since appearing on the UK-based equity crowdfunding platform.
Scaramouche & Fandango designs and manufactures high-quality body and skincare products for men in the UK. The company secured nearly £150,000 from 72 investors last year to help deploy new products and capitalise on International opportunities.
During the interview, co-Founder and commercial director of Scaramouche & Fandango Kenny Harmel revealed details about the company’s history:
“Scaramouche & Fandango launched back in 2013 with a view to putting the simplicity back into male grooming. We appreciated that products available in the marketplace were complicated and thought there was space in the industry for a brand to deliver high performing body and skincare products at an accessible price, yet communicated in a simple and straightforward way. Two and a half years on and we are stocked in over 250 stores around the world.”
Harmel explained what the company has done since the closing of its Crowdcube campaign:
“It’s been a fantastic year since successfully funding on Crowdcube. Most notably, using a portion of the funds raised, we developed a range of amenity products for the airline and hotel industry. Following lengthy discussions and a collaborative design and development process, we were recently awarded a contract to be the exclusive skincare partner within the Business Class amenity kits of Etihad Airways, to provide global exposure and awareness for the brand. Beyond this we’ve been able to expand the reach of the brand in the UK and internationally, with new listings in House of Fraser and Debenhams in the UK, Conran in Japan and Douglas in the Netherlands. We are continuing our key strategic international partnerships in 2016 with upcoming launches planned in a number of other territories. We have also been able to add more products, including a styling range and shave brush, in an effort to ‘complete’ the offering with a view to becoming the authority in men’s grooming.”
Kenny also noted some challenges that the company has faced:
“The largest challenge has been funding the manufacture of the products for the amenity range. This has meant extreme swings in our cash flow, which had not been anticipated nor forecasted. Beyond this, establishing our presence internationally in some regions has taken longer than anticipated, with internal sign off processes and specific labelling requirements delaying launch in a number of territories. The most significant being California compliant formulations, which take a long time to develop and as a result has stunted our growth plans in the USA this year. This should, however, be finalised in 2016.”
In regards to why the company decided to turn to crowdfunding instead of traditional banks, Harmel added:
“Traditional raising was extremely time consuming. With crowdfunding you have access to a number of ‘micro-investors’; meaning that instead of relying on a bank or Angel/VC to invest £150,000, there is opportunity to raise £100 from 1500 investors theoretically.”
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