Cannock-based Friction-Free Shaving secures £1.25m investment boost

Friction Free Shaving delivers its subscription products by post from its base on Heritage Park, Heath Hayes, and has built up more than 8,000 regular customers in its first 18 months.

And co-founder Briar Keen believes the investment could see the business build up to 24,000 customers by the end of this year.

It claims to be the world's first shaving subscription company for women and has secured a seven-figure venture capital investment with Athene Capital to drive growth in partnership with one of Britain’s largest publishing groups, Northern & Shell, for a major marketing campaign.

Briar Keen said: “We are thrilled about this deal and have already seen some really encouraging results from our early activities with the Northern & Shell media team.

"With the ongoing support from Northern & Shell and Athene Capital we believe this investment will allow us to treble our subscriber numbers by the end of the year, and fulfil our mission to empower as many women as possible to get a fair deal when it comes to shaving.”

The £1.25m investment from funds advised by Athene Capital, comes after prior investment by Seedrs and business angels, and is inclusive of the media partnership with Northern & Shell, which is designed to drive Friction Free Shaving’s ambitious growth plans.

A significant portion of the investment goes towards a comprehensive media campaign with Northern & Shell, whose media portfolio includes OK! Magazine, New! Magazine, the Daily Express and Daily Star newspapers, together with access to a string of TV channels.

Lloyd Thomas, managing partner of Athene Capital said: “The management team at Friction Free Shaving have identified a huge and untapped opportunity in the market of women’s shaving subscriptions. We are very confident in their ability to drive rapid growth and are excited to be backing them.”

Richard Martin, group commercial director, Northern & Shell, added: “This media partnership outlines our ongoing initiative to support promising start-up businesses in the UK.

"We have been hugely impressed with the tenacity of the team at Friction Free Shaving and believe that by working with us and our extensive portfolio of media assets, they have a unique opportunity to disrupt the sizeable and growing women’s shaving market.”

Since it launched its first set of products a year and a half ago, Friction Free Shaving has experienced rapid growth and now records over 8000 actively monthly subscribers. The playful women’s brand follows in the footsteps of a number of successful male shaving subscription brands and is aiming to win a significant portion of the women’s shaving market, estimated to be worth several hundred million pounds in the UK alone.

The company says it aims to challenge the limited choice and quality of female shaving products currently available on the high street, by providing a more hygienic, convenient and affordable alternative. The business posts high quality women’s shavers and replacement blades through the letterbox each month in return for a subscription, which starts at £5. It has also launched a highly popular women’s shave cream.

Friction Free Shaving’s rapid growth has been supported by office space and mail fulfilment expertise supplied by Mailcoms, which is owned by the company’s co-founder Des McManus. The business has also been supported by the UK’s largest free business accelerator, Entrepreneurial Spark Powered by NatWest, in Birmingham city centre since August 2015.