The Red Tree, the UK beauty brand consultancy, and SFC Capital, an early stage investment company, have launched The Beauty Accelerator, a joint initiative that will see one emerging independent beauty brand receive £150,000 investment.
The chosen brand is also set to benefit from the knowledge and expertise of The Red Tree applied over 12 months to take the brand to its next stage and beyond.
Speaking about the launch, Stirling Murray, Managing Director of The Red Tree, said: “We are extremely excited about The Beauty Accelerator. There is an incredibly vibrant independent beauty brand scene in the UK with dynamic entrepreneurs driving game changing innovation and creating disruptive brands.
"We will give one of these brands the chance to dramatically accelerate their growth through significant investment from SFC Capital and a year-long collaborative partnership with The Red Tree. Our world class team has a wealth of commercial beauty experience and will provide strategic insights as well as access to a wide network of beauty industry contacts."
Stephen Page, CEO of SFC Capital, said: “We are delighted to be working with The Red Tree to deliver The Beauty Accelerator. The beauty sector has been disproportionately affected by the Covid-19 lockdown, and it is important we help activity return to normal in this highly innovative and dynamic industry.
"At SFC we are always on the lookout for impressive companies that will become world-leaders in their field, and we are confident we will see some incredible applications for this accelerator.”
The Beauty Accelerator is the UK’s first beauty sector specific accelerator programme. There has been a high level of M&A activity within beauty in recent years and this initiative will highlight the beauty industry as being an attractive and rewarding investment area.
Beauty brands that are based and registered in the UK and registered for SEIS (www.seis.co.uk) are encouraged to apply to enter The Beauty Accelerator from 24 August with applications closing on 25 September.
Short-listed brands will then be invited to attend virtual interviews with The Red Tree and SFC Capital during the week commencing 28 September.
This will culminate in the selection of 5 brands to attend The Beauty Accelerator final on 21 October and 22 October.
The five finalists will have the chance to pitch directly to The Red Tree and SFC Capital in order to demonstrate that they are the worthy recipients of investment and collaboration. The Beauty Accelerator Winner will then be selected and announced.
Murray added: “We are looking forward to welcoming applications from brands across all categories of beauty. The Red Tree and SFC Capital are both keen to discover the next big thing in British beauty and The Beauty Accelerator is the perfect way to do so."
*Application form and the full list of entry criteria can be found here.
