The Red Tree and SFC Capital have announced the return of The Beauty Accelerator™ for 2024.
The Beauty Accelerator™ offers the UK’s most exciting independent beauty brands the chance to receive up to £250,000 equity investment from SFC Capital plus a year-long strategic partnership with The Red Tree.
Applications open on Monday 4th December 2023 and close on Friday 2nd February 2024.
Stirling Murray, Managing Director of The Red Tree said; “We are excited that The Beauty Accelerator™ is returning. The UK beauty industry continues to thrive and is a hotbed of creative entrepreneurs building the beauty brands of the future. Accessing early-stage investment continues to be challenging for brands and the need for The Beauty Accelerator™ is clear. It remains the UK’s only beauty-dedicated early-stage investment vehicle. It is a proven pathway for UK beauty brands to access investment along with the strategic insight to grow. The increased ceiling of SEIS investment to £250,000 means more capital is now available and we expect to receive more applicants than ever before. We are delighted to partner once again with SFC Capital and extend a warm welcome to our new strategic partner, Freeths, a leading full-service law firm experienced in the beauty industry. Together, we are excited to meet brands that are making a game-changing impact in the beauty industry.”
Stephen Page, CEO of SFC Capital said “We are thrilled to join forces with The Red Tree once again to bring a new edition of The Beauty Accelerator™ to life. This initiative has brought together fantastic entrepreneurs in the past, including previous winners Atypical Cosmetics and Fussy, or noteworthy finalist Cutbox, all part SFC Capital’s portfolio, and we are eager to discover the next wave of innovative ideas. The increased SEIS investment threshold, now at £250,000, opens new opportunities for start-ups, providing increased resources to bring their ground breaking ideas to market – and we are excited to extend this opportunity to aspiring beauty brands. The Beauty Accelerator™ transcends mere financial support – it serves as a platform for promising beauty start-ups to thrive, offering strategic guidance to help them become industry leaders.”
The best applicants will be short-listed and invited to attend virtual interviews with The Red Tree in February. The most impressive brands will then be selected to appear in the final on 26th and 27th February, where finalists will pitch to The Red Tree, SFC Capital and Freeths.
Previous finalists have included: Fussy, Faace, Cutbox, Atypical Cosmetics, KANKAN and Glaize.
*Application form and the full list of entry criteria can be found here.
