Percival looks to raise 250,000 pounds

London-based menswear label Percival is looking to raise 250,000 pounds through a crowdfunding initiative to invest in wholesale, marketing, and website improvements, as well as a store refit.

In a bid to secure the funds, co-founders and creative directors Chris Grove and Luke Stenzhorn, have launched the label on crowdfunding platform, Crowdcube, where they are offering up 26.32 percent of their equity in return for the 250,000 pounds.

The brand, which counts Benedict Cumberbatch, Stephen Fry, and Alex Turner among its customers, launched in 2010 with just one waxed jacket. Since then they have built a reputation for redefining menswear classics through unique texture and patterns. In December 2012, the menswear label opened its first bricks-and-mortar flagship store in Soho’s Berwick Street, following a couple of years of testing the retail market with pop-up shops in East and Central London.

The menswear brand is now seeking a move into the wholesale market across the UK, Europe and the rest of the world while pushing retail revenue further by investing in trade show attendance, larger sample sets, online marketing, an e-commerce consultant and a store refurbishment plan.

“Since opening [the store], the business has gone from strength to strength, but we want to build on our recent progress and expand the business into the wholesale market,” said the brand in its pitch documents. “We constantly receive interest from a number of the top stores in the UK and around Europe, and your investment will allow us to pursue these avenues and stock our collections in some of the best stores out there!”

Percival launches crowdfunding campaign to push growth

The pitch notes that the label has taken more than 200,000 pounds in revenue for the last two years and that its business model is to increase its two current revenue streams, shop and online, as well as to introduce a 3rd, wholesale. Over the next 12 months, its main aim is customer acquisition across these 3 revenue streams, to entry the wholesale market, increase production and refit the store.

The minimum investment is 10 pounds, while larger investments come with benefits such as 3,000 pounds will see the investor receiving a custom-made jacket with names embroidered by Royal Warrant holders, Hand & Lock, over 5,000 pounds will see the investor working with the creative team to design their own garment and 25,000 pounds will ensure the investor is dressed in Percival for life.

The label has until the beginning of August to reach the total of 250,000 pounds. In the last seven days, the brand has attracted more than 17,000 pounds worth of investment from 28 investors, with the largest investment being 10,500 pounds. By featuring the crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube they get a one-off fee amounting to around seven percent of the investment.

To boost their crowdfunding pitch the label has tapped Alexa Chung, model Jack Guinness, and TV presenter Rick Edwards to appear in its short pitch video, which introduces the brand to potential investors.

Images: courtesy of Percival