AKT London, the plastic-free brand best known for its natural deodorant balms, has generated £1m from nearly 1,000 investors with the intention of scaling as a fragrance-focused personal care brand.
The new investment campaign far outstripped AKT’s initial goal target of £600k, according to the brand.
AKT, which launched in 2020, is the brainchild of actors Andy Coxon and Ed Currie, who met in 2015 whilst rehearsing for Beautiful: The Carole King Musical in London’s West End.
Their schedule of eight shows a week under hot theatre lights was said to be the inspiration for creating an effective deodorant.
“The reasoning behind this campaign was to raise funds and be able to grow and scale as a personal care brand, with a fragrance focus – while maintaining our ethos,” said Coxon.
Commenting on leveraging AKT’s email database of more than 31,000 consumers, as well as its 21,000-plus Instagram followers for investment, Coxon added: “We chose this method because of how supportive and engaging our audience is.
“After sending out an email to our database to find out who would be interested, we were overwhelmed and it seemed like a no brainer.
“We've met some dragons along the way but are always open to whatever option is best for the business. There's never a ‘right way’ to do it but this is an opportunity we couldn't pass by and we’re absolutely thrilled with the outcome.”
