LBA secures c. £100k first round funding for social shopping website equipio.com
LBA are delighted to announce that equipio.com have secured a c. £100k first round of angel funding anchored by a syndicate of LBA investors.
Equipio.com, launched in July 2010, is a social shopping site for sportswear that combines the best content from a range of sources (e.g. videos, product reviews, Twitter feeds) with a community of passionate consumers in order to help athletes find the best sports gear. It capitalises on the internet’s ability to aggregate content and the increasing tendency for people to use social media in order to associate themselves with brands, organisations and individuals through “liking” or “following”, as well as their preparedness to publicly share views and comments. Equipio directly appeals to the sports consumer’s competitive desire for the latest products and willingness to discuss, compare and show-off the gear that they use.
Founder of the site, ex Nike business strategist Charlie Greenwood, said that “this investment enables us to develop the capability of the site as well as build traffic through a number of sports brand content initiatives bringing alive the idea of ‘what’s in my sports bag.’ We have some exciting plans for the next few months to continue to build traffic and engagement with the website. We launched rugby to coincide with the start of the 6 Nations Championship which adds to the initial sports we feature - golf, tennis, rugby and football.”
Besides building relationships with sports brands the equipio team are involved in negotiations with major sports media brands to help build the equipio brand in time for media convergence which will bring together the offline and online world. Sports media brands are keen to monetise their large online audiences and equipio is in prime position to help them do just that.
Anthony Clarke, Managing Director of the LBA said: "Equipio presented to LBA investors in November last year and had a good response on the evening. We are very excited by the growth potential of this early stage business equipio.com - we look forward to helping them in raising development capital in future fundraising rounds."
London Business Angels
Anthony Clarke, Managing Director
Tel: +44 (0)20 7321 5672
E-mail: enquiries@lbangels.co.uk
Web: www.lbangels.co.uk
About London Business Angels
LBA is one of the oldest and most experienced private angel networks in the UK. Since the early 1980s the network has been connecting innovating fast growth small and medium sized enterprises with investment through our network of business angel investors. LBA, part of Angel Capital Group, is professionally managed by a highly experienced management team, leveraging over 15 years’ experience in the early stage investment marketplace as established leaders in the development of new angel-led early stage investment initiatives, and nearly 30 years’ investing experience through the LBA network. LBA is a founding member of the British Business Angels Association, the industry's best practice trade association, and is also a member of EBAN, the European Business Angels Network.
