Edmund Hillary clothing debuted at New Zealand Fashion Week in August last year. Photo / Supplied
Edmund Hillary clothing debuted at New Zealand Fashion Week in August last year. Photo / Supplied
Outdoor clothing brand Edmund Hillary, which was inspired by the late mountaineer, is seeking to raise $3 million in capital to fund its global expansion.
The social enterprise, which donates 2 per cent of every sale to charitable and philanthropic causes, is offering up a 23.6 per cent stake inthe company in exchange for $8 per share and a minimum investment of $23 through UK-based online investment platform Crowdcube.
The company has a pre-raise valuation of $9.36m, according to the crowdfunding site.
So far the company had raised £70,908 ($137,480) by 37 investors.
Edmund Hillary Brands co-founder and chief executive Mike Hall-Taylor said a third of the capital raised would be used to develop a clothing range for the women's wear market, which is double the size of the men's clothing market, and would enable the brand to tap into the global $100 billion luxury clothing market.
Hall-Taylor said the retail brand had not planned to increase its core garment range with a women's wear label "so soon" but had been prompted to following demand.
"We've had such high demand, in fact, we've sold out of all of our smalls because all of the women have bought them - we just didn't foresee women buying into the range as much as they have," he said.
"Our sales have been good but we would have sold two to three times more if we had a women's range."
About $2m of the capital would be used to fund international expansion, including opening stores in Britain and breaking into China and the United States.
Edmund Hillary Brands has partnered with Chinese internet giant JD.com to sell its garments on its platforms and is in talks with a major retailer in the US.
Currently, Edmund Hillary clothing operates a retail store in Queenstown Airport and Auckland International Airport. It has been eyeing the Commercial Bay shopping precinct in downtown Auckland for its first Auckland store but has yet to finalise any plans following the delay in the complex's opening being pushed back to March next year from September.
Its garments will later this month be stocked in DFS Galleria on Auckland's Customs St.
Mike Hall Taylor, chief executive of Edmund Hillary brands. Photo / Supplied
About 25 per cent of the company's sales are to Kiwis, the rest of its customers are mainly Americans and Chinese nationals.
Hall-Taylor said the Beijing Winter Olympics scheduled for 2022 had driven interest for luxury winter goods among Chinese, and so the brand would look to invest heavily in KOLs - key opinion leaders (influencers) - to promote its garments on the JD.com platform.
Longer term, the company wants to have its own store in China, preferably in Beijing, by 2021 before the Winter Olympics kicks off.
Seattle will be Edmund Hillary clothing's first launch market in the United States. The brand has had interest from a undisclosed major department store there, and another retail chain in the area.
The brand plans to open a store in Covent Garden, London, ahead of Christmas.
Edmund Hillary clothing says $2 million raised would fund its international expansion. Photo / Supplied
Edmund Hillary clothing's strategy is to test new launch markets through distribution ahead of opening its own stores in the United States next year and in China in 2021.
"Our own store strategy is definitely still there but in order for that to work and because it's a big investment we want to make sure it is the right place first," Hall-Taylor said.
"If we achieve the $3m investment that we're looking to achieve then it will give us more scope to do more things a bit more quickly."
Hall-Taylor said investors had signalled a "significant" interest in owning a part of the company. He said he chose to crowdfund on a UK-based platform to reach a wider international market.
