B-Corp outerwear brand Finisterre raises 4.5 million pounds in crowdfunding

British outerwear and surf brand Finisterre has raised 4.5 million pounds in a second crowdfunding campaign.

The proceeds of the campaign, which was launched on May 24 and attracted 3,000 investors, will be used to drive online growth, open new stores, enter international markets, and invest in people and products.

Founder Tom Kay said in a statement: “The clear appetite among retail investors to back sustainable and genuinely purposeful businesses was one of the big factors in us turning to them to get financial backing for our ambitious growth plans.

“They know, like us, that the ocean’s future is our future, and that contributing to the climate crisis will only do our business a disservice in the long run.”

Finisterre was founded by Kay in 2003 in a flat above a surf shop. What started with a fleece expanded into various products with a focus on outerwear and the sea and surfing community.

The company said it has grown by 280 percent since 2019, and has become profitable “whilst investing heavily into accelerating the brand’s sustainability and impact agendas”.

Kay continued: “It is encouraging - if unsurprising - to see the number of people prioritising our planet in their investments has risen to such a drastic extent as the reality of our environmental fragility dawns on more and more of them, and platforms like Crowdcube enable them to take direct action.”