London, 2nd February 2022: TALA, the sustainable activewear brand founded by fitness entrepreneur Grace Beverley, today announces that it has raised £4.2M ($5.7M) in funding co-led by Active Partners and Venrex. Additional participants in the oversubscribed round include Pembroke VCT, as well as angel investors including Nicola Kilner (CEO & Founder, Deciem), Michelle Kennedy (CEO & Founder, Peanut) and Simon Mottram (Founder, Rapha). The investment will be used to further TALA’s mission of bringing sustainable activewear into the mainstream, investing in inventory, hiring and international growth. Jason Mahendran, Investor at Active Partners, will also be joining the TALA board.
As the sustainable fashion movement continues to thrive worldwide, one area of the market has gone significantly underserved: activewear. The options for conscious consumption of activewear typically leave much to be desired, with consumers forced to choose between affordability, performance, design and sustainability. But as consumer trends around fashion, fitness and sustainability continue to evolve, and with the global activewear market expected to be worth nearly $547 billion by 2024, the potential is vast.
Founded in London in 2019, TALA is on a mission to bring sustainability to as many people as possible, offering a range of stylish, high-performance and sustainable activewear at a competitive price point to non-sustainable alternatives. TALA’s hugely popular product range includes leggings, shorts, sports bras, tops, hoodies, tracksuits, outerwear, underwear and more. TALA’s products and packaging are made with upcycled, recycled and natural materials, and the brand has a strong focus on ethics, sustainability and transparency at every stage of production.
Fitness entrepreneur and influencer Grace Beverley founded TALA after deciding to move away from fast fashion and experiencing first-hand the frustrating struggle of finding truly sustainable activewear without breaking the bank. Rental or pre-owned alternatives, which had been popular in the wider fashion industry, didn’t hold the same appeal when it came to fitness, and the few genuinely sustainable brands on the market came with eye-watering price tags. Determined that consumers shouldn’t have to pay double the price for the privilege of sustainability, Grace set out to create a new kind of activewear brand that made sustainability more accessible for shoppers. Since then, TALA has taken the market by storm and gained a significant and loyal customer base in the UK and internationally, with over 270,000 followers on Instagram and a Trustpilot rating of ‘Excellent’. Loved by customers, TALA’s most recent collection, DayFlex, saw over £370K in revenue within two hours of launch, with top-selling styles selling out within 10 minutes.
TALA today has a lean team of 12 employees, and a majority-female board (66%) and cap table (71%). The latest investment will be used to further TALA’s mission and growth, including investing in product inventory, recruiting best-in-class talent and fueling the brand’s international expansion.
Grace Beverley, CEO and Founder of TALA said:
“TALA is a labour of love. I founded the business out of a genuine passion to help as many people as possible to shop more sustainably, without compromising on quality or price. I’m incredibly proud of – and grateful for – the amazing community we’ve built in the past two and a half years, and I cannot wait to see what we can achieve as we continue to grow our TALA community around the world. Sustainability is the future of business, and I’m thrilled to have found investors in Active and Venrex who not only champion our mission but are genuinely aligned with our values and approach.”
Jason Mahendran, Investor at Active Partners, said:
“TALA is a breath of fresh air in the activewear space, and what Grace and her team have achieved in such a short period of time is unprecedented in the industry. TALA’s impressive and loyal community is a testament to the team’s unrelenting commitment to producing the best possible products without ever compromising on ethics, sustainability or price. We are delighted to join TALA for this next phase of growth and look forward to supporting Grace and the team in meeting their exceptional demand and making sustainable activewear more inclusive and accessible to a wide international audience.”
