Female-founded luxury brand raises £1.7m crowdfund with majority female investors

The Fold, the luxury women’s workwear brand, has raised £1.7m in its crowdfund, following a successful campaign to encourage more women to invest.

Two thirds of the investors who participated were female, nearly three times higher than investment platform Crowdcube’s average, and nearly half of them were first time investors.

Earlier this month the brand launched its ‘Start with One’ campaign fronted by industry heavyweights June Angelides MBE, Rupa Ganatra Popat, Emma Wheeler, and more, which encouraged more women to start investing in order to close the UK’s gender investment gap of almost £600bn.

The Fold’s crowdfund was led by Active Partners, who have invested in brands such as Leon, Soho House, Finisterre, Rapha and Secret Cinema.

Over the last decade, The Fold has established itself not only as “the luxury workwear brand of choice for ambitious women”, but as a dedicated campaigning platform to “support and empower women in their careers”.

Sold in over 80 countries, it has a proven track record of high year on year growth (60 per cent per annum,) with ecommerce driving 90 per cent of sales, supported by its flagship London store.

The funding raised through the crowdfund will be used to open new stores, bring the brand’s personal styling service to more locations and grow its digital presence.

Polly McMaster, co-founder of The Fold, commented: “It’s been amazing to watch the number of women, many of them first-time investors, participate in our crowdfund. It is so important that women become a force of the investment community.

“Not only will it influence the types of founders who are getting funded and the types of products launching, but also who is being served by them.”

Janice Cargo, partner at Active Partners and board director at The Fold, added: “When we first met Polly in 2015, it was clear very quickly that she was building something special, and she brought the magic and drive to create something truly defining.

“The success of the crowdfunding and the number of women who have invested is a testament to the exceptional brand and community Polly has built, one which empowers women and champions ambition.”

By Matthew Neville – Senior Correspondent, Bdaily

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