Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) has led a £26 million funding round for LoveCrafts, the creator of online crafts communities.
SEP was joined by current investors Balderton and Highland Europe.
This represents the largest investment in a venture-funded business in the UK this year. The investment follows a surge of industry recognition for LoveCrafts including being named one of the fastest growing UK and European companies by both the FT1000 and Sunday Times Tech Track 100 and induction into Tech City’s prestigious Future Fifty programme.
LoveCrafts’ mix of content, commerce and community enables thousands of makers to find inspiration, plan projects, buy supplies and share creations with a fast-growing community of like-minded crafters. For independent designers, it’s a place to share inspiration and sell their designs. This unique combination of social network, video education, content marketplace and online store is proving increasingly popular with a burgeoning base of loyal makers across the world.
This significant investment from current backers together with SEP, which counts Skyscanner and Matchesfashion.com among its past and present investments, will allow LoveCrafts to further scale operations and improve the technology which enables users to connect through the platform. This will include the launch of further crafting sites and a continued focus on expanding internationally to fulfil LoveCrafts’ ambition to be the digital leader in the global $100 billion crafts market.
LoveCrafts was founded in the UK in 2012 by three entrepreneurs, Cherry Freeman, Nigel Whiteoak and Edward Griffith, looking to build a community that would support and unite makers worldwide. The company has enjoyed four years of strong and steady growth to date, and revenue continues to double year on year, supported by a 150 strong team.
Edward Griffith, Founder at LoveCrafts said: “It’s always been our goal to connect makers, designers and creatives across the world in a social and accessible way, and this investment will help us to do this in more markets, with greater scale and better tools. We are delighted that SEP, together with our current backers, share our vision for the business, and confidence in its future.”
Stuart Paterson, Partner at Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) who joins the board of LoveCrafts, said: “Crafting is the world’s largest hobby. LoveCrafts has built an impressive, scalable, digital community-based platform targeting an international market worth $100 billion per annum. It has a large and rapidly growing customer base in the UK and US, and our investment will enable further expansion across Europe and Australasia, reinforcing the company’s position as the end to end destination for crafting enthusiasts across the globe.”
Daniel Waterhouse, partner at Balderton, said: “For crafters around the world LoveCrafts has become an essential destination: a community as well as a great market place. We are delighted to increase our investment in this innovative business which reinvents traditional crafts for a digital age.”
Laurence Garrett, partner at Highland Europe, said: “LoveCrafts has demonstrated impressive growth over the last four years and we look forward to continuing our support for the dynamic company as it expands into new international markets and launches new crafts which will introduce a whole new group of committed users to the platform.”
Gerard Grech, CEO at Tech City UK, said: “LoveCrafts has made the most of the strong tech eco system and community in the capital to launch its business into markets around the world. We are proud that the UK’s biggest funding round this year has come out of the Future Fifty programme.”
LoveCrafts’ mix of content, commerce and community enables thousands of makers to find inspiration, plan projects, buy supplies and share creations with a fast-growing community of like-minded crafters. For independent designers, it’s a place to share inspiration and sell their designs. This unique combination of social network, video education, content marketplace and online store is proving increasingly popular with a burgeoning base of loyal makers across the world.
This significant investment from current backers together with SEP, which counts Skyscanner and Matchesfashion.com among its past and present investments, will allow LoveCrafts to further scale operations and improve the technology which enables users to connect through the platform. This will include the launch of further crafting sites and a continued focus on expanding internationally to fulfil LoveCrafts’ ambition to be the digital leader in the global $100 billion crafts market.
LoveCrafts was founded in the UK in 2012 by three entrepreneurs, Cherry Freeman, Nigel Whiteoak and Edward Griffith, looking to build a community that would support and unite makers worldwide. The company has enjoyed four years of strong and steady growth to date, and revenue continues to double year on year, supported by a 150 strong team.
Edward Griffith, Founder at LoveCrafts said: “It’s always been our goal to connect makers, designers and creatives across the world in a social and accessible way, and this investment will help us to do this in more markets, with greater scale and better tools. We are delighted that SEP, together with our current backers, share our vision for the business, and confidence in its future.”
Stuart Paterson, Partner at Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) who joins the board of LoveCrafts, said: “Crafting is the world’s largest hobby. LoveCrafts has built an impressive, scalable, digital community-based platform targeting an international market worth $100 billion per annum. It has a large and rapidly growing customer base in the UK and US, and our investment will enable further expansion across Europe and Australasia, reinforcing the company’s position as the end to end destination for crafting enthusiasts across the globe.”
Daniel Waterhouse, partner at Balderton, said: “For crafters around the world LoveCrafts has become an essential destination: a community as well as a great market place. We are delighted to increase our investment in this innovative business which reinvents traditional crafts for a digital age.”
Laurence Garrett, partner at Highland Europe, said: “LoveCrafts has demonstrated impressive growth over the last four years and we look forward to continuing our support for the dynamic company as it expands into new international markets and launches new crafts which will introduce a whole new group of committed users to the platform.”
Gerard Grech, CEO at Tech City UK, said: “LoveCrafts has made the most of the strong tech eco system and community in the capital to launch its business into markets around the world. We are proud that the UK’s biggest funding round this year has come out of the Future Fifty programme.”
