Cornwall based Refined Brands, the digitally native portfolio of ethically sourced, natural and sustainable British brands, has completed a £6.75 million equity funding round, including £1.5 million of investment by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Investment Fund (CIOSIF) from appointed fund manager The FSE Group who were advised by Penelope Garden and Rachael Maunder.
The deal represents the largest single investment by CIOSIF to date and is the largest by funding round size with CIOSIF participation.
The funding, which includes investment from new and existing private investors, will be used to further accelerate the growth of its portfolio companies, both in the UK and internationally which includes:
- Celtic & Co, a pioneering retailer of ethically sourced, natural sustainable knitwear, footwear and outerwear.
- Frugi which has built an exceptional reputation for sustainable childrenswear, using organic cotton throughout their collection as well as designing outerwear made from recycled plastic bottles.
- Turtle Doves which uses post-consumer textile waste to create beautifully upcycled new garments and accessories,
- Kettlewell Colours which was created to enable women to shop their best colours all year round.
Ben Barnett, Chairman of Refined Brands, said: “The creation of Refined Brands was motivated by a desire to build a differentiated family of sustainable fashion brands, alongside founders and teams that shared our passion and vision. I am delighted to welcome CIOSIF as investors into our expanding group. We value their experience in supporting businesses throughout the region and believe their input will help us achieve our ambitious goals for organic growth in the UK and internationally.”
Anna Staevska, Investment Manager at The FSE Group, added: “We are delighted to be supporting such a strong business that is headed up by an immensely passionate and experienced team. The group will be further strengthened by the recruitment of 15 new staff members across the manufacturing, customer services and warehouse teams, supported by funding from CIOSIF. The sector is wide open to Refined Brands, as the ethical fashion market is growing much faster than the core UK retail industry, and Cornwall is fast becoming a market leading region in the sustainable fashion sector. We look forward to seeing the business develop even further.”
