A Cardiff-based start-up providing an eco-friendly toothbrush subscription service has secured more than £770,000 investment in its latest funding round, exceeding its target by over £250,000 from nearly 300 investors.
Founded by former Deloitte advisor, Mike Donovan, Brushbox aims to be the world’s largest subscription brand for eco-friendly, cruelty-free and sustainable personal toothbrush, toothpaste and oral care products.
[aoa id=”1″]During the funding round, Brushbox has also strengthened its board and investor base with the addition of founder, former CEO and now vice chair of Cloudreach, Pontus Noren. A senior advisor to The Blackstone Group, he brings with him 24 years’ experience as a successful entrepreneur, with leadership expertise in the IT industry across sales, business development and product marketing from working for blue chip companies like Cisco, Ericsson, and Nokia.[/aoa]
Mike explained the Brushbox team has been overwhelmed by the support they have received in this funding round and said: “To have so many people willing to invest their hard-earned cash on our company is amazing and to welcome investors of the calibre of Pontus to the board has been phenomenal.
“To exceed our funding target by 154% is just incredible and it has been truly exciting to have so many people who share and support our vision to create a step change in how we consume every day, typically throw away items, with an aim to vastly improve the UK’s oral health in a fun and different way, including young children in deprived areas who might otherwise not have the means to help themselves in the way that some of us do. We can’t thank everyone enough for their support and encouragement.”
On his investment and appointment to the Brushbox board, Pontus Noren said: “I met Mike a few months ago and his passion for Brushbox and his persistence to build the best consumer focussed subscription businesses was palatable.
“This is an industry ripe for disruption and Brushbox is in pole position to drive the change we need to see. With a focus on health, eco-friendliness and giving back as a core part of the business, I believe Brushbox can look forward to an exciting and bright future.”
Brushbox is the UK’s first sustainable subscription box service and deliver 100% recyclable and biodegradable toothbrushes, including beautiful bamboo brushes, toothpaste and other oral health products direct to your door. With their focus on eco-friendly bamboo toothbrushes one of their key aims is to combat the estimated *3.6bn plastic toothbrushes that end up in landfill or our oceans each year.
Since its launch in 2018, Brushbox has been listed as the number one start-up business to watch in Wales and, having delivered thousands of boxes across the UK last year, was named the second fastest-rising direct to consumer brand in the UK by Marketing Week magazine, just behind US razor subscription service Dollar Shave Club.
Explaining the inspiration behind Brushbox, Mike said: “We understand that actively remembering when to change your toothbrush may not immediately be at the top of everyone’s priority list, but we’re passionate about spreading the Brushbox ethos in order to improve people’s health.
“The awareness around the damage that plastics are having in our seas and environment means that there is an ever-growing population of consumers who are crying out for eco-friendly and sustainable alternatives to the status-quo, and it’s important that this is done well.
“According to a report from Euromonitor, the oral care market exceeded sales of £1.3billion in 2017 in the UK alone, with traditional plastic toothbrushes and toothpaste making up 73% of those sales. Alongside this, the UK subscription market is one of the fastest growing sectors in retail and is forecasted to be worth more than £1billion by 2022. With more than half of 25-35-year olds in the UK already signed up to at least one subscription box, and with 40% of consumers saying they will join more schemes in the future, there is the potential for big, sustainable and eco-friendly business to be done here.”
Mike is committed to improving the oral health of the UK and to that end Brushbox has also fostered a partnership with Dentaid which means that, for every Brushbox toothbrush sold, another one is donated to a disadvantaged child who may not have the same means to replace their brushes when they’re supposed to. As a direct result of their most recent funding round an additional 10,000 toothbrushes will be donated in the coming months.
