E-commerce firm set to bloom after fundraising

A FAST-growing e-commerce business founded by an entrepreneur and a former private equity investor has raised more than £600,000 in a funding round.

Manchester-based Ecomnova has raised £675,000 in the first close of a £1m fund-raising via Co Angel Investment, a service funded by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, which helps match small businesses seeking cash with  a network of angel investors and VC funds.

The company, which has 18 staff,  designs and operates gifting websites for its own brands and also offers a white-labelled service for major retailers selling a range of flowers, wine and champagne, hampers and personalised gifts.  

It has six of its own websites including Appleyard Flowers and Blossoming Gifts, and plans to launch five more sites this year, targeting a total of 20 gifting and consumable websites by 2020.

Its current sales are £5m a year and this is forecast to double over the next 12 months. The funding will enable it to invest in dedicated marketing resources and expand in Europe.

Ecomnova’s founders are former LDC managing director, Paul Johnson (executive chairman) and entrepreneur Tash Khan, who is managing director.

On behalf of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority,  Ian Stewart, Mayor of Salford, said: “The reaction of the business community to the launch of the Co Angel Investment service has been phenomenal and it is hugely exciting to be able to announce the second syndicate investment.  

“Ecomnova is a great example of the kind of innovative and ambitious companies that will really benefit from the support provided by the Co Angel Investment team.”

Ecomnova director Andy Bate said: “E-commerce is the fastest growing retail sector in Europe and the gifting market is outperforming the overall e-commerce sector.  Finding and sending gifts online has become part and parcel of how we shop.

“With our outsourced business model and a lean operational cost base, the equity funding being raised gives us a great opportunity to scale our business significantly.  We are looking forward to continue our excellent working relationship with the Co Angel team as they help us to close this current round of funding.”
 
The company worked with Ben Partridge and Akshay Bhatnagar from Co-Angel Investments on the fund-raising.

Co Angel Investment is a service provided by Business Finance Solutions, which is part of the Greater Manchester Growth Company.

The Co Investment service has already generated a pipeline of more than £40m since launch in November 2014.  It aims to leverage £10m of investment in each year into businesses in Greater Manchester. Ecomnova is the second business to close a deal with its support.

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