Planks Clothing, an innovative ski apparel company, is seeking a £200,000 venture debt loan (estimated 13.5% APR) on Crowd2Fund to manufacture an innovative, new range of clothing which will incorporate recycled materials.
Founded in 2009 by former professional skier, Jim Adlington, Planks was launched to high-quality products, which have a broad appeal to a wide range of consumers who love the mountains. This is best encapsulated by the company’s playful slogan, Drop Cliffs Not Bombs. Planks manufacture a range of products including men and women’s ski clothing, alongside a range of accessories including gloves, belts, and hats.
According to Planks, product is sold directly through their website, alongside an increasing number of specialist ski wear retailers in Europe, Asia, North America, and Australasia. Additionally, the company operate their own mono-brand concept stores in the French Alps. Planks director, Hugh Clow, stated:
“We are on target to deliver revenues of £1.2 million this year, a 50% increase on the prior year. This season we have kicked off an exciting partnership with a specialist outerwear R&D firm, experts in their field of technical product development. This will allow Planks to move to a new factory which will result in better product and a reduced cost of goods.”
The launch of this funding round comes just one year after Planks became the first company to take out a venture debt loan on Crowd2Fund and successfully raised £100,000 from 136 different investors to purchase a new range of clothing for the ski season. Since the last crowd raise, the company have been focussed on increasing their revenue and re-engineering their supply chain.
The company is now returning to Crowd2Fund to raise a further £200,000 venture debt loan from the crowd, double to their previous raise. The new funds will be used to purchase and manufacture an exciting clothing range, with 68% of the styles using recycled materials. Planks chose to return to the platform due to the flexibility offered by the venture debt, alongside its ability to easily facilitate participation from brand advocates. Clow then noted:
“With the lack of flexible financing options available from traditional banks, we are proud to partner with Crowd2Fund. The venture debt product allows Planks to repay the loan in line with cash receipts from customers.”
Planks aded that the recycled material efforts are true to Planks’s ethos to reduce their impact on the environment and landfills. The new range will also include the “Woodsy” Signature Collection, as endorsed by UK Olympian and X-Games gold medallist, James “Woodsy” Woods.
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