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With our Equity for Meanderers Crowdfunding campaign about to launch I wanted to share a bit about our journey in building Meander so far and how we’ve financed through bootstrapping, crowdfunding twice (soon to be three times) as well as our plans for the next chapter. Looking back it certainly has been quite a journey and we’re very excited about what comes next!
After several years of working in the fashion industry I knew I wanted to start something of my own and do things differently. I had worked for some pretty cool clothing brands and designers but I was over churning out new collections season after season without purpose at the heart of it.
Steve and I are co-founders of Meander and now Co-CEO’s of Tens (as well as husband and wife)! Whilst Steve’s career was more finance than fashion, his passion has always been in adventure and exploring. Having worked as a Scuba diving instructor in Australia, competed in the Marathon Des Sables and trekked to the North Pole he has a genuine love of the outdoors and nature.
The idea for Meander was born after a cycle trip Steve and I organized with friends from London to Paris. We didn’t go the direct route to Paris that some serious cyclists do in a day or two. We went the long way, via Mont Saint Michelle, along some of the old railway lines that have been converted into cycle paths meandering through France. It took us 4 days and it was a memorable trip that we won’t forget for various reasons. We got lost, we took roads that didn’t exist and carried our bikes through muddy fields, we ate off menu in local places and we laughed a lot along the way.
Prior to the trip, we had looked for clothing to wear for our bike ride that was versatile enough for cycling to Paris as well as for part of our everyday wardrobes, but we couldn’t find what we wanted. There were fashion brands with no performance or the serious outdoor brands with big logos but there wasn’t a brand creating versatile performance clothing for everyday adventures.
We realised that we wanted to create versatile clothing for meandering whether you were in the city, hiking a Munro or cycling to work. We believed there must be more people like us who loved the outdoors and wanted everyday versatile performance clothing to fit with their outdoorsy lifestyle.
After a long time sourcing the perfect fabric and a manufacturing partner we launched our first product, the Meander Jacket, on Indiegogo. Aside from raising funds to finance our first production run of Meander jackets we wanted to do crowdfunding to test out and see if anyone else wanted the same things that we did.
Ahead of the campaign we actually got some great advice from Marty and Chris, the founders of Tens, who had at that point run a very successful crowdfunding campaign.
Thankfully our campaign was fully funded by backers around the globe and we were able to make our first production run of Meander jackets.
Following the campaign we launched our first range of products, all crafted for versatility using the softest performance fabrics with an everyday aesthetic. At the same time we opened our fist pop up store in Stockbridge, just round the corner from our flagship Edinburgh store is now.
Whilst we took Meander as far as we could through the support of the Indiegogo campaign, bootstrapping and maxing out a Virgin Start Up Loan. It wasn’t too long before we knew we would need some angel investment to help fund our inventory and the growth.
After the success of our pop up store in Stockbridge, we opened another pop up in George Street mid pandemic. It started as a 3 month pop up store and turned into two years of trading. After the first 3 months in 2020 (before all retail was forced to close again) our collection went down better than we could have imagined and we sold out of most of our initial stock.
We needed to restock fast and it was around this time we met Colin Temple of Schuh who we also call our literal angel. Colin backed us early on to help us fund our production and he’s supported us at various points on the way. We feel very lucky to have him on this journey as he’s one of the good guys in life who genuinely wants to help and has asked for nothing really in return, except that we’re honest and work hard and look after his investment - of course.
We also met Neil, our other main investor, when working in our George Street store. I recall meeting Neil as he loved the brand and product and I always love chatting with customers especially when they really get the brand. I didn’t realise at the time that Neil had not long before sold his business for several figures! When he emailed me after and said he wanted to invest I initially said, sure I’ll let you know when we’re next Crowdfunding. Luckily he got back in touch and he became our second angel investor as well as a loyal customer.
We’ve discovered on the way that starting a brand from scratch requires certain things. You have to do something different to stand out, you need customers who love your brand and in most circumstances you need finance to support the growth.
In 2023 we decided to go back to the crowd but this time on Crowdcube with an Equity campaign which we called Equity for Meanderers!
Part of what made this investment special was definitely the community who got on board with us. We had people who backed our initial Indiegogo campaign and had become loyal fans and various friends and customers that we’d met along the way.
Following this investment round we focused on growing our brand online, we doubled our online revenue last year and we acquired Tens Sunglasses!
We also expanded the range introducing a range of new trousers, rain jackets and a Rewilding collection with funds going to Scotland the Big Picture. Our Squiggle logo (inspired by a meandering road on the NC500) was introduced on more products too.
Bringing Tens on board and becoming the Meander Group has felt like quite an exciting milestone. It’s a fellow Scottish brand that we’ve been huge fans of since the very early days and own several pairs ourselves. When we opened the George Street Store and wanted to stock some accessories, they were the first brand on our list.
Marty, Tom and Kris had built the foundation of an awesome brand with a loyal customer base around the world. Their sunglasses were spotted on Richard Branson on Necker Ireland which led to Virgin investing in Tens.
We’ve had our own long history with Virgin, having taken out a Virgin Start up Loan when we got started, I was then lucky enough to take part in the Virgin Strive Challenge, cycling the length of Sardiania with a group of Stivers and helping raise funds for Big Change charity. It was both terrifying and inspiring to cycle with the Branson family and meet so many incredible people.
It felt very serendipitous that after all our these connections that’d we would end up acquiring Ten. We’re now very proud to stock Tens on Necker Island again and just hoping one day we’ll get invited out! Then we’ll know we’ve made it!
We’re about to embark on Equity For Meanderers Part 2 to help fund the next phase of growth for Meander and Tens and we can’t wait for this part of the journey. Whilst we’ve achieved a lot with our small but brilliant team, there is so much more to do and we believe that we can scale Meander and Tens to become global brands.
This investment round will allow us to invest in our team and brand awareness, through collaborations with like minded brands and hotels, events, pops and more.
We have lots of ideas for garments that we’d love to add to our range using only the softest sustainable, performance fabrics to create versatile clothing for people who love the outdoors and to meander in style and comfort! We have new sunglasses already in the works too!
As we grow the Meander and Tens brands we’re able to do more to give back to environmental charities through our commitment to 1% For the Planet. Each year we donate 1% of our annual sales to charity which is something that inspires us all.
We couldn’t have got to where we are today without our loyal customers and supporters and we’d love for you to stay on this journey with us. If you are interested in learning more about our Crowdfunding campaign and owning your own piece of Meander and Tens you can register your interest here . We are EIS approved and there are goodies for investors too :)
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