DOUBLE Olympic medallists and world champion brothers, Alistair and Jonny Brownlee, have invested in a Crowdcube crowdfunding initiative launched by a triathlon clothing firm.
The Brownlee brothers have worked with HUUB, the premium endurance sports brand since 2013 after their founde, Dean Jackson, approached them directly and persuaded them to give his HUUB wetsuits a try.
Money raised through the Crowdcube campaign will be used by HUUB to accelerate growth into new territories, and through category expansion and extension. They aim to raise at least £250,000.
Alistair said: “We’ve had a really positive working relationship with HUUB for several years now.
“As a brand, they are genuinely interested in listening to and incorporating athlete feedback into their products, and into the business to make improvements.
“HUUB is also a business driven by performance and innovation which are of course values we share.
“We therefore look forward to this next chapter of working with them, in this different capacity as investors and with a slightly different seat at the table.”
Jonny added: “As professional athletes, what we get up to when we are training and racing is of course the most important aspect of what we do, but it is not the only part of our job.
“Working with partners who we have an authentic relationship with and making those relationships successful – from both a performance and commercial point of view – is a really important part of life as a professional athlete.
“Working with HUUB has always been born out of a genuine love for their products and their approach to innovation, and so it was an easy to decision to take the opportunity to invest in the business at this exciting stage in their growth.”
In 2019, HUUB turned over £4.8m and from 2015 to 2019 they have on average achieved sales growth of 32% year-on-year. Despite the triathlon competition schedule being wiped out during 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, HUUB’s 2020 turnover is on a par with last year’s as endurance sport take-up has soared during lockdown.
The business has experienced a huge increase of 681% in cycling apparel sales, as well as a significant diversification in audience demographic for their products across the board. Specifically, women’s wetsuit sales are up 68% and there has also been a shift in the average customer age.
For more information on the HUUB Crowdcube crowdfunding campaign, go to huubdesign.com/pages/moving-forward
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