Guy Fennell from Pura on sustainable business and raising funds
Robyn Hewson speaks to Guy Fennell of Cheshire-based sustainable babycare brand Pura on growing the business, securing investment and their unique recycling scheme turning nappies into new roads.
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00:00Hi, I'm Guy and I'm the founder and CEO of Pura.
00:14We are a sustainability eco baby brand in the nappies and baby wipes.
00:20We launched in June 2020, which seems a bit of a distant memory now, but we're definitely
00:27challenging a very competitive sector.
00:30We have 100% plastic-free wipes and we also have amazing nappies, which are completely
00:36chlorine-free.
00:37We're the only baby brand in Europe recycling nappies, and last year we recycled 45 million
00:43nappies in Wales.
00:46And recently we've just launched an amazing nappy recycling scheme in Bristol, where we've
00:52come out and said that we will recycle 1 million nappies.
00:56Now we're not a waste management company, but what we are trying to do is do good for
01:00the planet.
01:02Our products are great from a sustainability perspective and our price points are really,
01:07really good.
01:08We are sold in the UK across most of the mainstream retailers, and we're just about to launch
01:16into Morrisons, which we're really, really excited about.
01:20We are also in the US, so the nappies have now become diapers, and we sell our diapers
01:28in Walmart as well as Amazon.
01:31I'm really, really proud to say that we're in Walmart.
01:36It took us two years to get that listing, and we've also gone into different categories
01:41and into quite a few stores across the whole of the US.
01:48From my perspective, one of the big things that I really, really underestimated was the
01:56raise of funds.
02:00It's taken a long time to raise a huge amount of cash for Pura.
02:06We've raised 11.15 million in 31 months, which is incredible, and that was for equity.
02:15That's enabled us to go into a new market, to be disruptive from our marketing and be
02:23playful, but also help from an NPD perspective.
02:28One thing I would say is don't underestimate how long it takes to raise cash, and raise
02:34cash when you don't actually need it.
02:37It's better to have more cash around you.
02:39I know it's the good old cliche that everyone says cash is king, but it really, really truly
02:45is, but also make sure you've got the best team around you.
02:50It's all about making the boat go faster.
02:53We've got a very, very strong team here at Pura.
02:55I expect a huge amount.
02:57It's intense.
02:58It's full on, but we have a lot, a lot of fun, but it's all about how well we can adapt
03:05in the boat and row to the North Star together and won.