Skins, the brand of compression garments that has been strongly campaigning for transparency and tolerance in sports in recent years, has launched a crowdfunding campaign to invest more in marketing and innovation.
The Swiss-based company has set a target to raise the equivalent of £2 million (€2.5m-$2.8m), through Seedrs in the U.K. and Equitise in New Zealand. The new shares issued for this purpose would amount to 10 percent of the company's shares, putting its post-money equity value at £20 million (€25.3m-$28.3m). As with other such platforms, none of the money committed will be transferred to Skins unless it reaches the minimum target in committed funds. There's still more than one month to go until the campaign closes in May.
The extra money is meant to accelerate innovation and broaden Skins' offering to other sportswear categories, while continuing investments in favor of clean sports. Earlier this year it hired Pär Westerlind as product and design director, based in Switzerland. He was previously product manager for golf at Kjus, after another assignment at Odlo. The enlarged Skins apparel range would complement the technical compression garments with sportswear.
Two years ago the company's chief executive and majority shareholder, Jaimie Fuller, discussed the sale of a minority stake in Skins for the purpose of raising investment, but the move didn't go ahead. Skins says it has instead launched the crowdfunding to engage with other stakeholders and allow them to support Skins' stance on international sports.
Fuller acquired almost full control of the company in 2012, when he struck a partnership with the Itochu group in Japan. They obtained trademark rights for Skins in Japan, China, Taiwan, Macau and South Korea for at least ten years, in exchange for cash and a loan. The combination enabled Fuller to buy back a 36 percent stake held in Skins since 2007 by Equity Partners, an Australian private equity firm.
Since then, Fuller has been playing a prominent part in campaigns for reforms in cycling and football organizations, and against various forms of discrimination in sport. The brand also distinguishes itself by its witty and somewhat provocative advertising, to support its brand and as part of its campaigns for transparency and against doping and discrimination in sports.
Meanwhile, the company has ended a distribution agreement in Italy and negotiated others in Russia and several east European countries, as well as Central America. The brand also teamed up with agents in Germany, to work that market more efficiently while keeping its own office in the country to deal with a few key accounts.
Skins' sales reached just over 43.8 million Australian dollars (€29.6m-$33.1m) last year, which was an increase of 4.3 percent. It has budgeted faster growth with the cash injection, to reach a turnover of A$ 74.3 million (€50.2m-$56.1m) in 2020. It implemented restructuring measures two years ago to improve its cost structure, which involved several job cuts. The company has moved much of its product team to Australia, to be closer to its largest market.
