Mr & Mrs Smith closes crowdfunding campaign early
Boutique travel business Mr & Mrs Smith has closed a crowdfunding campaign 10 days early having raised £6.1 million in under a month.
Initially scheduled to end on 18 October, the campaign became one of the fastest to surpass the £1 million mark on Crowdcube, when the figure was achieved on its first day.
More than 2,000 people have contributed to the campaign, with investments starting at £125 – the price of a single share.
The investment came from Smith members and the general public.
The company said the money will support the company’s continued growth, particularly in the fast-growing US market.
It also plans to rapidly widen its collection of hotels and villas and expand Mr & Mrs Smith SideStories, its new experience offering of insider-led cultural tours.
Funds are also earmarked for its in-house booking engine and Smith24, the 24/7 booking and member-support service run by 45 travel specialists in London, New York, Singapore, and Los Angeles.
"This crowdfunding campaign has been a humbling reminder of how passionate people are about the business and our mission to shake up luxury travel," said James Lohan, co-founder Mr & Mrs Smith.
"Thanks to the support of our new shareholders, we can now rapidly expand our curated collection of boutique hotels and villas, extend our international reach, and enrich our experiences offering. It has been a great honour to see our community accept our invitation with such enthusiasm."
Mr & Mrs Smith reported a 22% rise in total transaction value to £63.5 million year-on-year to June 2018 and a recent upsurge in booked revenue, which has risen by 35% to £10.6 million.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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