A Shoe in Success: Undandy Becomes First Portuguese Crowdfunding Campaign on Crowdcube

To paraphrase Nancy Sinatra, these shoes were made for funding. Undandy, a custom-made shoes company, has paired with Crowdcube and has made quick steps toward a successful campaign. The first Portuguese startup to list on Crowdcube, Undandy aims to raise £1,000,000 for 8.77% equity offered. Pre-money valued at £10,400,000, Undandy has already raised over £708K, 70% of its goal, from more than 65 investors.

“We’re happy to announce that our first Portuguese company on Crowdcube, Undandy, is already open for investment. Crowdcube investors will now have the opportunity to be a part of one of the best-known Portuguese startups. This launch comes one month after we hit another major international milestone: €20 million raised for Spanish businesses,” blogged Crowdcube. “Dedicated to the craft of custom-made shoes, Undandy has sold over 22,000 shoes in 3 years, and has already received widespread international media coverage in the Financial Times, Forbes, Business Insider and similar publications.”

Via its 3D online design platform, over 20,000 customers from over 130 countries have designed and purchased 22,000 pairs of shoes from Undandy. Undandy aims to become “the definitive customizable footwear brand”. Between 2017 and 2018 alone, Undandy sales grew from 300 to 2000 pairs of shoes per month.

“With the brand equity we have grown in just three years, we hope that Undandy will not only become a very sustainable company, but we are also aiming to become a very profitable one to boot (excuse the shoe pun), Our limitation thus far has been production capability and capacity. During this time we have also been able to spot the areas we know we can improve substantially,” Undandy CEO and Co-Founder Rafic Daud explained in the Crowdcube blog.”  “By acquiring our current manufacturer, we’ll be able to shorten the crafting time of the shoes, and improve flexibility with launching new models, new leathers etc. This alone will enhance our business metrics.”

Over 40% of Undandy’s customers have become repeat customers already buying at least a second pair in under two years. Founded in 2015 in Portugal with a direct-to-customer business model, in 2017 generated sales were €1.7M and -€466K EBITDA. The site offers shoes as well as leather accessories including travel organizers, gloves, belts and luggage.

“At Undandy we offer our customers the possibility to design their very own shoes, right down to the smallest detail. From the style, decoration, choice of leathers, stitching, and even the sole, there are no limits when it comes to the shoes you can design using our online 3D customiser, aside from imagination!” Daud explained in the Crowdcube blog. “The shoes are then handcrafted to order in our workshop in Portugal in just two weeks and delivered worldwide. The ultimate form of luxury is having something completely exclusive, and there’s no better way to achieve that than by actually designing your own product.

Funds raised from the campaign will be used to acquiring Undandy’s current manufacturer and to becoming fully vertical. The company’s biggest market is the United States, followed by the UK, Canada, Australia and the United Arab Emirates.

“These are typically all very diverse markets, but the cool thing about Undandy is that the customisable element allows us to cater to all, as the design is unique to each and every customer,” opined Daud. “Going back to the core of Undandy, we’re offering customers the ability to express themselves through their shoes, with no seasonal or style limits as with traditional footwear e-tailors…Currently, our only channel for sale is exclusively through our website. As a result of our direct to customer approach (cutting out the middleman), we are able to give an honest price to our customers. Therefore, we don’t have a lot of margin to sell in retail stores or through third party sites. But the real question is: why would we want to? The way consumer habits have changed in the last ten to twenty years has shifted dramatically, and increasingly more people are making most of their purchases online.

In the next five years, Undandy expects to grow vertically, selling more shoes and acquiring the manufacturer will allow us to scale even further, at a faster rate and more efficiently.

“I also see Undandy expanding horizontally into other product categories. We just recently started selling socks and other leather goods, such as backpacks, holdalls, travel accessories and so on, and we want to slowly expand our brand into other categories, without losing our focus on true craftsmanship,” explained Daud. “We believe this should be present in every single product we sell. As the brand identity strengthens and keeps growing, I hope that Undandy will become a reference in the lifestyle arena for the modern gentleman.”

For more details on Undandy’s live Crowdcube campaign, please click here.