BeCheeky.com has raised Gbp630,000 in seed funding from South West Venture Fund

By admin at December 4, 2007 | 11:43 pm | Print

What Company Is Offering:
BeCheeky.com was founded by husband and wife team James and Sarah Akin-Smith to take advantage of the growing demand for high quality sensual women’s lingerie. It currently offers over 1,200 individual lines from brands such as Bracli, Lola Luna, Morgan, Princess Tam Tam and Sensualle, and attracts 130,000 individual visitors per month. In addition, it sources innovative lingerie and swimwear from suppliers around the world. The company has a turnover of nearly 1 million.

What’s Market Of That Product:
The U.K. lingerie market has achieved growth of 27% over the last five years and is now worth over ?1.5 billion per annum. Online sales are growing steadily, driven by easy access to broadband and increasing levels of consumer confidence in online security. According to Verdict Research, the leading authority on U.K. and European retail markets, online shopping is growing 13 times faster than traditional retailing, with the market being valued at ?11 billion in 2006 and forecast to reach ?28 billion by 2011.

How Much They Got From VCs:
BeCheeky.com, a UK-based online retailer of hard-to-find and mainstream lingerie, has raised Gbp630,000 in seed funding from South West Venture Fund (managed by YFM Group) and individual angels.

About VCs:
YFM Group ? is the UK’s most active investor in the small and medium enterprise marketplace. YFM Group manages in excess of ?300 million of funds with investment sizes ranging from ?50,000 to ?5 million. Principal offices are located in Leeds, Manchester, London and Bristol with over 45 investment professionals being employed across the UK.

The YFM Group managed South West Ventures Fund is a ?25M fund that has been set up to provide venture capital to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) based in the South West of England. Initial investment can be up to ?330,000 with an ability to invest a further ?330,000 after six months. In certain circumstances, alongside other new investors, the Fund can follow on its investments to provide a total of ?2.5 million to one company. To date the fund has invested ?7.1m in 25 companies.

South West Ventures Fund is managed by YFM Venture Finance Limited part of the YFM Group. YFM Venture Finance Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
More at:www.BeCheeky.com

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