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SPOKE secures £5m for further international growth

spoke logo 1
  • Investing in team, technology and marketing across expanding international footprint
  • Largest Seedrs crowdfunding campaign so far of 2022 
  • Strong trading momentum across all markets
  • US growing at over 100% pa

SPOKE, the custom-made on demand menswear brand, announces the completion of a £5m crowd-funding round on the Seedrs platform to build on current strong momentum across the business.

The round was supplemented by existing investors, led by Oxford Capital, with participation also from Forward Partners, BGF and 24 Haymarket.

“The success of Spoke has always been underpinned by an incredibly engaged community of SPOKEsmen – and for years we’ve been asked about opportunities to invest. We have an unusually personal connection with our customers – so it feels right that they join us on the journey as we build the World’s most personal menswear brand,” said CEO and founder Ben Farren.

The monies raised will be used to invest in team, technology and marketing to accelerate SPOKE’s reach in international markets. The US is SPOKE’s second largest market after the UK and is currently growing at over 100% per annum. SPOKE will invest in a dedicated US team, to be London based, with the aim of more than quadrupling US revenues by FY24.

The team has just opened a distribution centre in Germany. The site will be used to hand finish all items for local distribution, and service more efficiently its growing business across Continental Europe.

Benefitting from the changing world of work post pandemic, SPOKE is currently trading ahead of target for the full year, with year-on-year gross revenues currently up over 60% on 2021’s £17m.

David Mott, Founding Partner at Oxford Capital commented: “At Oxford Capital we are passionate about backing founders and we’re thrilled to see the progress that Ben and the team have made in growing the SPOKE brand.  The company has successfully managed the changing needs of consumers – growth over the last year and projections for the year ahead are really promising.”

SPOKE is on a mission to build the world’s most personal menswear brand, developing a unique platform to deliver a customised finish in over 400 size options across its legwear ranges, covering leg length, waist and build. There are also taper options for calves. SPOKE’s proprietary Fit Finder, machine learning technology will match a customer to their perfect size in just sixty seconds. SPOKE avoids the issue of carrying excess stock by finishing all orders by hand in its Yorkshire based workshop. The result is a custom made fit, without going to the time or expense of bespoke. SPOKE’s sizing options are typically more than 10x those offered by store based competitors, who are limited by space and working capital constraints.

Ben Farren, CEO and founder of SPOKE said:

“We are experiencing an exhilarating post pandemic recovery, with growth of more than 60% year-on year, as work and going out trends normalise. The monies raised will enable us to accelerate our progress in our international markets of Europe, and the US where we are currently growing at over 100% pa, and progress towards our vision of building the World’s most personalised menswear brand.”

Clement Bigot, Senior Investment Manager at Seedrs. 

“The success of Spoke’s crowdfunding campaign was testament to the product and community they have built since their launch in 2014. With over 1,500 investors, the campaign was the most successful campaign on the Seedrs platform so far in 2022.”

 

Estimated reading time: 2 min

 

Due to the potential for losses, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) considers this investment to be high risk.

What are the key risks?

  1. You could lose all the money you invest
    1. If the business you invest in fails, you are likely to lose 100% of the money you invested. Most start-up businesses fail.
  2. You are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong
    1. Protection from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), in relation to claims against failed regulated firms, does not cover poor investment performance. Try the FSCS investment protection checker here.
    2. Protection from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) does not cover poor investment performance. If you have a complaint against an FCA-regulated firm, FOS may be able to consider it. Learn more about FOS protection here.
  3. You won’t get your money back quickly
    1. Even if the business you invest in is successful, it may take several years to get your money back. You are unlikely to be able to sell your investment early.
    2. The most likely way to get your money back is if the business is bought by another business or lists its shares on an exchange such as the London Stock Exchange. These events are not common.
    3. If you are investing in a start-up business, you should not expect to get your money back through dividends. Start-up businesses rarely pay these.
  4. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
    1. Putting all your money into a single business or type of investment for example, is risky. Spreading your money across different investments makes you less dependent on any one to do well.
    2. A good rule of thumb is not to invest more than 10% of your money in high-risk investments. https://www.fca.org.uk/investsmart/5-questions-ask-you-invest
  5. The value of your investment can be reduced
    1. The percentage of the business that you own will decrease if the business issues more shares. This could mean that the value of your investment reduces, depending on how much the business grows. Most start-up businesses issue multiple rounds of shares.
    2. These new shares could have additional rights that your shares don’t have, such as the right to receive a fixed dividend, which could further reduce your chances of getting a return on your investment.

 

If you are interested in learning more about how to protect yourself, visit the FCA’s website here.