Child-friendly cleaning products start-up Nimble has beaten its crowdfunding goal as it sets its sights on new supermarket listings. The raise coincides with former Sainsbury’s boss Justin King joining the business as an investor and advisor.
The brand’s range of plant-based products are available in 900 Tesco and Sainsbury’s stores in the UK, as well as stocked by Ocado and Amazon.
It has currently raised £222k from 280 investors on the Crowdcube platform, overfunding from its £200k target.
King will also become an advisor to the business and a mentor to its founder Von Sy
Nimble, which launched in 2015, plans to use the money to launch into more retail chains, enter European markets and explore a new product category.
Sy previously worked as a chemist at Unilever’s R&D HQ for detergents and deodorants, helping to launch new products for brands such as Persil, Dove and Lynx.
He was inspired to create Nimble after his sister gave birth as he sought to create a cleaning product for children that didn’t contain chemicals.
“We are absolutely thrilled to have Justin King, a former head of a multibillion-pound retailer and respected industry thought-leader, joining our emerging business,” Sy said.
“In the short time we’ve known each other, he’s given us a number of valuable insights and has been a real pleasure to work with.
“His appointment coincides with our crowdfunding campaign, another exciting step in our journey, which began with the aim of making life easier for parents of young children by producing effective and sustainable cleaning products that are safe to use. As a father, I understand the anxiety many parents feel about using potentially harmful household products and the growing desire to find sustainable, plant-based cleaning solutions that are kind to our planet.”
King added: “Von has impressed me with his energy and enthusiasm and he has developed unique products that have built a loyal following. I’m excited to be able to help him and his team build a unique and valuable business.”
Nimble’s first product, the EU patented Milk Buster, a baby bottle cleaner, has since been joined by a range of surface cleaners and laundry detergent, as well as hand sanitiser, which are all developed for sensitive skin, using allergen-free and plant-based ingredients that are made in the UK, never tested on animals and Vegan Society-certified.
“We’ve started the year really strongly and we’ve performed very well during the Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Ocado baby events in January and February, where we’ve seen our highest weekly retail sales on record,” Sy said.
“We’ve also learnt so much on how to better our performance in the next baby events happening in the second quarter. We are working very closely with our retail partners to offer the best proposition for customers and execute the plans flawlessly in terms of store implementation and marketing.”
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