Business Growth Fund, established to help Britain’s fast-growing smaller and medium sized businesses, has invested GBP4.2m in AFG Media, the fancy dress and party fashion company behind Morphsuits.
This is BGF’s fifth investment in the month of June, following its recent commitments to Springfield Homecare, Seacroft Care Village, Primrose and Cennox.
AFG Media was founded in 2009 by Edinburgh University graduates Gregor Lawson and brothers Fraser and Ali Smeaton, who gave up their day jobs to sell all-in-one skintight costumes that they branded Morphsuits, after witnessing the dramatic reaction generated at a fancy dress party.
In three years revenues have grown from GBP1.2m in 2010 to GBP11m in 2012. The company has experienced growth of 300 per cent year on year on the back of a marketing campaign that has been driven by social media and has over one million fans on its Facebook page.
The business received a boost last year when US retail chain Party City, which has over 1,000 fancy dress stores, placed an initial order of Morphsuits during the run-up to Halloween.
AFG Media has recently expanded to include party wear under the name Foul Fashion and a brand of patterned and colourful golf clothing under the name Royal & Awesome.
BGF’s investment will enable the company to bring new product lines to market; to expand the potential for existing products (such as the development of Morphsuits for children); and to develop its supply chain. The company is also looking to further penetrate the US market and target overseas expansion opportunities in Europe, Mexico, Russia, Japan and China.
In addition to funding, BGF will contribute guidance and operational support to the company, introducing Ralph Kugler as chairman and connecting the business to its broad network of contacts. Kugler has held board positions at a number of companies including InterContinental Hotels and Unilever, where he was global president for the EUR19bn home and personal care categories.
Duncan Macrae, investment director for BGF who joins the board, says: “This is an exciting opportunity to back a rapidly growing business with a talented and driven management team who, in just three years, have built an extremely strong brand in what is currently an unbranded market. Over and above its recent success with Morphsuits, new product lines such as Foul Fashion and Royal & Awesome present strong opportunities for AFG Media to build a stable of premium brands. The team has created a strong platform, providing multiple opportunities for further growth.”
Fraser Smeaton of AFG Media says: "This investment will step-change AFG Media and will allow us to drive our thriving business globally. Having Ralph Kugler as our chairman, with his proven track record of building global brands with Unilever, means we will benefit from his invaluable experience as we build brands on a similar scale within the fancy dress market.”
