82 investors have put up the money in return for a 15% stake in the business that sells its products in, Harvey Nichols, Whole Foods Market, Tesco and Waitrose.
Established in late 2009, Righteous has experienced rapid growth, with its turnover rising from £15,000 in 2010 to £120,000 in 2011.
It expects to reach £0.5m by the end of 2012. The 33 year-old founder, Gem Misa turned to crowd-funding after researching bank loans and angel investment. She says: “The repayment rates with the banks were too high and I was worried about the control that business angels might take over my company if I went down that route. In contrast, crowd-funding was relatively straightforward on Crowdcube, even the legal and administrative process after the full funding was reached.
Misa said: “I like crowd-funding because it offers the best of both worlds: I get the finance, but just as importantly, I now have a group of investors who are evangelists for my brand as well. They really believe in our natural approach to food and therefore want to be a part of it.”
With her background in marketing and brand management at Unilever, Misa will use the £75,000 for an aggressive marketing strategy to make Righteous a major player in the salad dressing market. This includes building awareness amongst British consumers with supermarket pricing promotions and a TV advert.
Misa added: “Accessing our funds relatively quickly means a lot to a small business like ours because we are still in ‘survival mode’ in the supermarkets. The store buyers expect us to perform as well as the bigger brands owned by multinational companies with big budgets. With these funds we can develop a big marketing campaign that will make more people aware of Righteous salad dressings and the great benefits and taste we offer.”
Source: Crowdcube
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