The 海角视频鈥檚 first palm oil-free beauty brand is set for significant expansion after landing a 拢48,000 grant.
A year after Cornish ethical beauty business Bloomtown featured on TV鈥檚 Dragons Den it is on a growth curve boosted by cash from the BIG Productivity fund.
The Falmouth-based business is the 海角视频鈥檚 first independently certified palm-oil free company and was founded in 2016 by husband and wife team Preyanka Clark Prakash and Medwin Culmer.
The couple lived in Bali, in Indonesia, for two years where they saw first-hand the devastating impact of deforestation caused by the palm oil industry.
They decided to set up their own body and skincare company, offering consumers ethical and cruelty-free products. An appearance on BBC 2鈥檚 Dragons鈥 Den last year 鈥 where entrepreneurs pitch for investment to a panel of investors 鈥 saw the couple come away empty-handed but buoyed by the praise and encouragement they received, and a clear idea of where to take their company.
And it led to vast exposure for the young business, which started life in the couple鈥檚 kitchen in Mylor. In the year following their Dragons鈥 Den appearance, turnover almost doubled and Bloomtown now has a number of high-profile stockists including Monsoon, Not On The High Street, National Trust, Eden Project and the Royal Horticultural Society.
To meet growing demand and capitalise on the Dragons鈥 Den exposure, the business applied for a grant from BIG Productivity.
This is a 拢3.1million fund that offers grants from 拢2,500 up to 拢150,000 to qualifying small and medium-sized businesses in Cornwall to boost their productivity.
BIG Productivity is supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Growth Programme, and is delivered by Cornwall Development Company. It aims to help 175 local businesses become more productive and create 175 new jobs in the Cornish economy.
Bloomtown was supported with the application by Access to Finance, another ERDF-funded project that offers fully funded support to local businesses looking for growth finance, and is delivered by Oxford Innovation.
Preyanka said: 鈥淭he entire Dragons鈥 Den experience was so useful to us and we had great feedback about the potential of our brand.
鈥淲e had a much better idea of what we needed to do to grow and more than 30% of our current customer base was because of the programme.
鈥淭he BIG Productivity grant allows us to boost production capacity and efficiency by investing in new machinery, and revamp our branding and packaging while developing new products.
鈥淭his will allow us to acquire more high profile stockists and meet growing demand, and we plan to take on two more staff in the next six months. The grant application process was straightforward and Access to Finance were wonderful in helping us prepare our application.鈥
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BIG Productivity鈥檚 programme manager Anna Staevska said: 鈥淏loomtown have built a great business and they are making the most of the national exposure and advice they received through Dragons鈥 Den.
鈥淎s well as brand development and product expansion, our grant will enable them to buy new equipment so that they can produce bigger batches and transform their productivity.鈥
Jackie George, a finance specialist with Access to Finance, said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 been an absolute delight working with Preyanka and Medwin over the last few months helping them develop their successful BIG Productivity funding application.
鈥淭hey are both very committed and professional people who, following feedback from Dragons鈥 Den, have focused on what they wanted to achieve for the business.
鈥淎ccess to Finance is all about helping people raise the money they need to bring their ideas to life, Bloomtown is an exciting venture and Oxford Innovation looks forward to continuing to support them as the business grows.鈥
