In August 2021, the Perkier team set out to raise a £400,000 round to accelerate the growth of the UK’s fastest growing healthy snack bar. Perkier is on a mission to make the healthiest snacks on the planet, while not compromising on your health, the taste or our planet. Perkier smashed their target by more than 250%, raising over £1M from 344 investors.
We sat down with Perkier’s Founder, Ann Perkins to discuss what the crowdfunding experience was like, and what we can expect from the brand in the future.
Tell us about how Perkier started? Where has your vision taken you so far?
Ten years ago I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease, an auto-immune disease which means I can’t eat gluten, and then I found out I was dairy intolerant too. Gluten, however, is in lots of foods including bread, pasta, breakfast cereals and lots of snacks, it’s very hard to miss! But to put my health first, I had to take gluten and dairy out of my diet, which fortunately for me, had an extremely positive impact on my energy levels, digestive healthy and even my mood. Whilst this transformation was amazing, when shopping I found that the foods available to me weren’t very tasty, healthy or kind to the planet! So, I decided to quit my job and do something about it!
I founded the Perkier with my partner Steve and the name ‘Perkier’ is a mashup of our surnames Perkins and Turner. In a nutshell ‘Every snack we make tastes good, does you good and doesn’t mess up the planet’. If it doesn’t tick all 3 boxes it’s binned!
Perkier is the fastest growing healthy snack bar in the UK, selling in thousands of retailers including Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and ASDA with independent food-to-go outlets and online with Amazon… and we have big plans to accelerate our growth both in the UK and overseas.
Tell us about your fundraising journey before Seedrs?
Before crowdfunding with Seedrs, we were self-funded for the first few years of our Perkier journey. In 2019, we then completed a small raise with Angel Investors and Nexus Investments.
When you came to Seedrs, why did you decide it was the right time to raise a round?
As we were becoming the UK’s fastest growing healthy snack bar, we saw a fantastic opportunity to accelerate our growth through retail, food-to-go and ecommerce, both in the UK and overseas.
At the time of your Seedrs round, what other fundraising options did you consider, and why did you choose crowdfunding? What were your goals from crowdfunding?
We choose crowdfunding to engage our followers and attract new investors onto Team Perkier. Our goal was to raise £400,000 but we blasted this target in 24hours of going live and raised over £1million.
This funding round would enable us to invest in:
- Growing our team (all of our success to date is with a team of just 4!)
- Digital Marketing to drive growth in Amazon and Retail
- Continue to innovate and bring outstanding products to market meeting the most exciting trends
Why did you choose Seedrs? Why did you feel we were the right partner for your business?
Seedrs impressed us with their equity crowdfunding expertise and in particular their Food & Beverage successes and portfolio. Seedrs already had a large audience of investors who are interested in investing in plant based, healthy foods which hit the emerging trends so it was the perfect fit. In addition, the Seedrs team is very knowledgeable, professional, passionate and extremely supportive.
Seedrs is a trusted equity crowdfunding platform and they enabled us to engage with our current community and build a wider support community for our brand. Team Perkier is so much stronger now!
How did you pitch crowdfunding to your lead investors?
We explained the benefits of engaging the crowd to bring in current fans and a new and wider network of investors. It was important that we listened to our lead investors views and took these into account as we progressed our plans.
Talk us through what running a campaign was like?
Running the Perkier crowdfunding campaign was a fantastic experience! Seedrs provided a clear roadmap of how to run an efficient and effective campaign which was an enormous help, including case studies and reference documents that were available as well as introductions to trusted partners for example for our video.
On top of that, the Seedrs team were always available to answer questions and help us along the journey. We learnt so much, met so many awesome people and when we went live, we had excellent support and questions from investors too. The whole experience was full on – and enormously rewarding!
What were some of the aspects of crowdfunding you weren’t aware of that turned out to be essential for a successful round?
We hadn’t tapped into the power of LinkedIn before, so posting on that platform to engage our professional community was hugely successful. We tapped into an investor community who had been quietly watching our progress, which in turn had a big impact on our crowdfunding campaign.
What were some of the highlights of your campaign?
There were many but to summarise:
- Hitting our £400,000 target in 24hrs of going live.
- Achieving an overall x2.5 Target, hitting £1million raised.
- Bringing on board industry experts
- In the last 24hrs of our campaign, we had an individual investor commit £75,000. Before we already attracted a £50k and £25k ticket from the Seedrs investor base.
- The Seedrs Bitesize pitch opportunity was a huge success, a great experience and received excellent feedback.
How would you describe your overall experience working with Seedrs?
Working with Seedrs was a fantastic experience which brought us together with an awesome community of investors, making our business so much stronger and perkier. The Seedrs team are a professional bunch and an absolute pleasure to work with. We are now set to accelerate our growth; the future is Perkier!
What have the proceeds from crowdfunding/your Seedrs round helped you achieve so far, and what plans do you have in the pipeline for the upcoming months?
We are growing our team, from a lean team of 4 to 9 by January 2022. We have a Digital Marketing partner on board and we’re investing in growing our brand awareness and sales. We are also launching Perkier on Ocado, Amazon EU and in the UAE.
Aside from the funds, what have been the long-term benefits of your crowdfunding campaign?
The most valuable long-term benefit has been having industry experts on board who are a great help in supporting our goals, and as a soundboard for questions we have. We didn’t just leave with capital, we left with a community of people who really want to see us win.
How do you keep your community engaged?
Perkier provides quarterly business updates and Perky news flashes through the Seedrs platform! Our community receives discounts from our product range and exclusive merch and we’re always available to answer questions and open to suggestions and recommendations from our investor community.
To find out more about Perkier, visit their campaign page.
Are you interested in raising funds with Seedrs?
We are the UK’s most active and dynamic investor, with our services rigorously put through their paces by hundreds of founders every year. Apply to raise with Seedrs now or get in touch to discuss your fundraising plans in more detail.
