Online craft-design network LoveCrafts has raised £26m in a funding round led by London-based venture capital firm Scottish Equity Partners, as well as existing investors Balderton Capital and Highland Europe.
LoveCrafts, founded in 2012 and based in London, provides an online community for customers interested in craft-design, who use the platform to buy supplies and share projects.
The firm says it will use the investment to expand its operations and fund improvements in the platform’s technology. LoveCrafts has distribution centres in Manchester and Missouri (US) and a back office centre in Kyiv (Ukraine).
The firm was named as the 20th fastest-growing European company in the FT1000 list earlier this year. It was also listed by The Sunday Times last year as the third fastest-growing small-and-medium sized exporter in the UK.
LoveCrafts was founded by Cherry Freedman, Nigel Whiteoak, and Edward Griffith, who originally created loveknitting.com in 2012.
Edward Griffith, founder at LoveCrafts, said the investment will help the firm to “connect makers, designers and creatives across the world in a social and accessible way”, and expand into “more markets, with greater scale and better tools”.
Stuart Paterson, partner at new investor Scottish Equity Partners, said their investment will “enable [LoveCraft’s] further expansion across Europe and Australasia, reinforcing the company’s position as the end to end destination for crafting enthusiasts across the globe”.
Laurence Garrett, partner at Highland Europe, commented on the firm’s “impressive growth over the past four years”, adding: “We look forward to continuing our support for the dynamic company as it expands into new international markets and launches new crafts which will introduce a whole new group of committed users to the platform”.
The news comes after LoveCrafts closed a $7.5m Series A and a $20m Series B in 2015.