Freshlabels looks to raise €800,000 through crowdfunding on the Crowdberry platform

A chance to invest in a strong e-commerce brand with a sustainable footprint while joining renowned investor names like Thomas Archer Bata, the great-grandson of Tomáš Baťa: this is a true Bata-like opportunity brought to you by the Crowdberry platform. Freshlabels, a retailer of designer and sustainable fashion, wants to raise as much as €800,000 via the platform. The investment will be used to increase inventory and expand, leading to increased sales and overall company growth of this Czech love brand. The yield on the investment will be 11.2% per annum on the first tranche with semi-annual payments. Crowdberry intends to replicate the success of the investment campaign for the Slovak music festival Pohoda, which raised €500,000 from Crowdberry investors. And Investors are already showing huge interest in this new opportunity, with more than €200,000 pledged in just a few days.

“Using local capital financing, we now have the opportunity to keep the value created on home turf and support the growth of established local brands. After many successful years of equity financing, which our investors as co-owners of companies and real estate have benefitted from, we have launched private debt financing in the Czech Republic, with companies repaying the investors in semi-annual payments as interest income," explains Dano Gašpar, managing partner of Crowdberry.

“The thinking behind it is that we focus on established companies, so investors can finance in a similar way to banks. The investment principle is that investors receive adequate remuneration for the risk, proven security and complete information so they know what the company will use the funds for, how and with what purpose. And, most importantly, how the company plans to pay investors back,” adds Gašpar

Crowdberry facilitates this direct financing of Czech and Slovak companies through its platform. These companies are selected by a professional team of investment managers and then approved by an investment committee composed of a council of financing and investment experts. Since its inception, the Crowdberry platform has financed dozens of companies to the tune of more than €65 million in private capital, with additional tens of millions obtained through subsidiary funds. Portfolio companies have total revenues exceeding €400 million.

Freshlabels: from stabilisation to growth

The Freshlabels campaign, which aims to raise €800,000, was launched by Crowberry on 28 June. Private investors can become bankers for Freshlabels and lend it capital at a defined interest rate with a minimum investment of €3,000 and up. The interest yield of the first tranche is 11.2 % per annum, to be paid semi-annually. The maturity of the loan is three years. The investment is secured and guaranteed by the owners, including the Bata family investment fund Triple B.

“Freshlabels has weathered a turbulent period and is transforming into Freshlabels 2.0. We will retain what makes us strongest, which is our mission to discover and curate new and exciting sustainable brands from around the world. But with improved processes and a professional team focused on operational efficiency, we can respond flexibly to the increasingly dynamic macroeconomic changes of today. The company has huge growth potential in our eyes, as it forms the gateway to many global and sustainable brands. We intend to invest the amount raised in the development of the company, its operations, replenishment of inventories and, above all, in preparation for the expansion into foreign markets planned for next year," comments Ladislav Žižka, CEO of Freshlabels, which has consistently achieved sales of around CZK 100 million in recent years. In the coming year, it intends to increase this to CZK 120 million, the amount the company had reached pre-pandemic.

Ladislav Žižka joined Freshlabels in 2022. The owners, led by the Bata family investment fund, entrusted him with the leadership to restructure and transform the company, while restoring the reputation of this successful love brand.

Year 2023 for Crowdberry

Crowdberry was awarded an ECSPR licence in 2023, which not only made investing via the platform more accessible, but also allowed it to launch a new credit finance product. This new product synergistically complements equity investments, which have long been a core area of Crowdberry, and is in demand not only from investors but also from companies seeking capital to grow their businesses.