Crowdfunder by Edinburgh baby care firm Cheeky Chompers exceeds £400k target

Edinburgh-based baby care brand Cheeky Chompers – which is stocked by retailers including John Lewis and The White Company – has secured an oversubscribed crowdfund as it seeks to scale the business “to the next level”.

From left: Amy Livingstone and Julie Wilson. Picture: Stewart Attwood.

The business was founded by Julie Wilson and Amy Livingstone when they were both on maternity leave with their first children, and having sought to raise £400,000 on equity investment platform Crowdcube, has netted £472,000.

Corporate finance boutique Quest Corporate and corporate advisory firm Full Circle Partners supported Cheeky Chompers around the crowdfunding campaign.

The baby care firm will continue to focus on scaling the business through product development, direct sales growth and increased brand awareness in key markets. Cheeky Chompers products are now sold by more than 1,500 retailers in about 50 countries, and exports account for about 65 per cent of total sales, with more than 30 distributors globally.

It comes after the business last week added another national retailer to its customer base, with the company’s products now available at 31 Mamas & Papas stores around the UK and via its website.

Founding director Julie Wilson said: “It has been an amazing journey over the past six years and the team has worked really hard to take an idea and turn it into a global brand. The aim now is to capitalise on the multi-billion global market for baby soothers and teethers by scaling the business to the next level. We’re excited to be teaming up with Mamas & Papas, a brand we’ve admired greatly for some time.”

Cheeky Chompers has nine products and has sold more than 1.5 million to date - with the UK, China and the US its largest markets. The firm, which also counts JoJo Maman Bébé and Nordstrom among its retail customer base, won a Queen’s Award for enterprise in 2018 for its international trade.

Founding director Julie Wilson said: “It has been an amazing journey over the past six years and the team has worked really hard to take an idea and turn it into a global brand. The aim now is to capitalise on the multi-billion global market for baby soothers and teethers by scaling the business to the next level. We’re excited to be teaming up with Mamas & Papas, a brand we’ve admired greatly for some time.”