Stubble & Co secures multi-million dollar investment to drive growth

Stubble & Co, which makes ultra-functional bags, has announced a new investment from Growth Partner. The fast-growing lifestyle brand has raised a “multi-million-dollar” sum from the investment firm backed by HomeServe founder and chairman Richard Harpin.

Growth Partner has acquired “a significant minority stake in Stubble & Co as it continues its journey to become a leading global lifestyle brand.”

The brand has achieved a CAGR of 173% over the past three years, “while continually increasing its investment in ESG initiatives” and says it is “on track to achieve sales of £10m this year”.

Stubble & Co was founded by husband and wife Victoria and Ben Watkiss. Victoria previously worked at L’Oréal and has over a decade of experience in consumer marketing, while Ben specialized in marketing and advertising risk and supply chain consulting. They share an interest in travel and the idea for their very practical bags grew out of this with a launch in 2017 funded through Kickstarter.

The Roll Top range of products is their bestseller, but more recently they have also expanded to other products such as their Tote Bag. Prices start at £30 for a wash bag and rise to £185 for their Weekender XL.

The company has remained independent for the past six years and has grown its sales through its Shopify Plus e-commerce platform. Its ultimate goal is to exceed £100 million in annual sales.

It also has a strong edge in sustainability and last year began contributing 1% of its annual sales to approved environmental nonprofits. Earlier this year it also became a Certified B Corporation.

The plan is now to pursue further collaboration opportunities after forging a partnership with Brentford FC, becoming their official bag partner for the current season which coincided with the launch of Stubble & Co’s new Kit Bag.

Richard Harpin said of the new investment: “Ben, Victoria and the team at Stubble & Co have successfully created an agile, purpose-driven brand that develops exceptional functional products that its customers love and is growing at an exceptional rate. . I’m excited to share my experience and support. [it as it] expands into new adjacent product categories, new sales channels and international markets as it continues to scale.”