Fit-Centric online underwear brand NUDEA today announces a further £600,000 in seed funding, marking the start-up’s second successful round. The investment comes as more customers seek accessible, size-inclusive, stylish options for bra-shopping online – an activity accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Nudea’s mission to help bra-wearers find their true fit has attracted this new pool of investors to support the round, bringing the total raised since inception in late 2019 to £1.1m. Backers include seed-stage firm Cornerstone Partners, and a group of angels led by investor James Eden, with both parties joining Nudea’s Board. Also participating in the raise are the brand’s founders.
Wilfred Fianko, Co Founder of lead investor Cornerstone Partners says of the backing: “Supporting Nudea’s female founders on their entrepreneurship journey is for us a highlight. Their industry expertise and vision for the future of the online underwear space is really inspiring. I’m excited to see them build out their team, sustain and scale the brand’s remarkable year-one success and make further impact in terms of accessibility in self-fitting.”
Priya Downes, CEO and co-founder of Nudea comments: “Having the backing of Cornerstone Partners is an ideal fit for Nudea – particularly their commitment to underrepresented founders and inclusive businesses. As a female-led business whose central ethos is inclusivity, we are pleased to be aligning with a fund that complements our values. We have an absolutely stellar team of product innovators, most notably Sophie, our creative director, who has over 25 years’ experience leading design at renowned underwear brands. We’re really excited to have the backing and support of our investors to grow our business set to an exciting backdrop of a rapidly-changing retail environment.”
Nudea Co-founder and CEO Priya Downes comments: “The pandemic has, in fact, served as a tailwind for us to grow even faster than we could have predicted, given our value proposition of self-fitting, simple online purchasing and hassle-free returns. We have also seen that COVID-19 has accelerated digital change in the shopping space by 3 to 4 years in the space of 6 months. We genuinely believe customer behaviour has permanently shifted too, and the future of bra shopping is virtual, online and from the comfort of your home.”
None of this comes as a surprise to Nudea. Of their value system which has sat at the heart of the brand from day one, Priya says: “We make it our business that bra-wearers feel supported and that means accountability when it comes to inclusivity, diversity and accessibility. We’re particularly supportive of those going through bodily change, which is when bra-fitting is essential, but emotions are often high. We saw that the traditional retail environment wasn’t servicing these bra-wearers, so we developed our bespoke Fit Tape product, combined with our Virtual Fit and Online sizing quiz. Those bra-wearers are now coming to NUDEA – to the safe space that we’ve created.”
What’s more, while female entrepreneurs – and specifically founders of colour – are still under-represented in start-up funding tallies, Nudea’s fundraising announcement demonstrates an encouraging sign of progress, with investment being funnelled into female-founded businesses servicing minority communities.
