Earlier this month, UK-based shoe brand Vivobarefoot launched its Crowdcube initiative to raise£750,000 as it prepares to expand. Since its debut, the project has successfully secured over £500,000 from nearly 515 investors.
To date, Vivobarefoot has reportedly sold over 1 million pairs of shoes. The company has been profitable for the last 2 years and growing at 30% a year. It was revealed:
“In 1999 Childhood friend of Galahad Clark and keen tennis player, Tim Brennan, suffered a string of injuries. He thought conventional sneakers were the problem and visited Galahad, a 6th generation shoe maker and member of the Clark’s family shoe making dynasty, with the first barefoot shoe concept made in his studio at the Royal College of Arts. Galahad loved it and set about developing Vivobarefoot.
“After 5 years of research and development they released the first Vivobarefoot shoe – the first minimalist shoe with a patented, ultra thin puncture resistant sole. The shoe was designed to offer both maximum sensory feedback and maximum protection. By 2008 they’d figured out how to make great shoes and momentum has been building ever since.”
Last week, the Vivobarefoot crew held an Investor Event to share more details about its growth and its crowdfunding campaign. Clark also cleared the air about recent questions about its valuation:
“There has been some comment on our valuation and I wanted to comment on that: We agree that it is difficult to value growth stage businesses like Vivobarefoot, but we believe in the £18m valuation.”
He then noted:
“This is less than 2x turnover and we consider this to be reasonable for a global brand with 30% growth, positive ebitda and a relatively low risk profile; from extended proof of concept, patented technology, digital business model with a strong foothold in key markets: UK, USA. DACHS and Scandinavia. We’ve also got a strong management team including FD from Green & Blacks / Boden and Commercial Director (ex MD of Puma UK).”
Vivobarefoot’s campaign is set to close early April.
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