Campaign Success: Skinny Tonic

Skinny Tonic is a zero-sugar, zero-calorie, 100% natural, tonic water brand. The company has raised over £5m on Seedrs and is currently live with their second public campaign. We spoke with Founding Director & COO, Steve Wilkinson to hear their equity crowdfunding success story.  

This is Skinny Tonic’s second public raise, what made you decide to return to Seedrs?

We launched our first campaign last year, and it was extremely successful; being over 3 times oversubscribed and closed 15 days early. We decided to launch a follow-up campaign this year as we’ve seen high demand from people wanting to invest in us and be part of our journey. So far, we’ve raised over £1.7m from nearly 900 investors.

Aside from capital, how has Skinny Tonic benefited from crowdfunding?

We had offers from single investors for the whole round, but that was not how we wanted to go about raising money. Crowdfunding works extremely well for FMCG companies like ours as we want to create an army of brand advocates and benefit from the exposure that comes with launching a campaign.

Did you use any external support services for either of your Seedrs campaigns?

Believe it or not, we shot the video for our first campaign on an iPhone; which shows that if you have the right product, you don’t need to spend big on video agencies for the campaign to be successful – though if you have the budget, I would advise you to hire a professional. This time around, we were fortunate enough to have the support from Rachel, our head of creative along with a professional videographer.

What do you think has been the key to your equity crowdfunding success?

I believe it’s our product and our USP of being zero-calorie, zero sugar and 100% natural. We are living in a time where people are becoming more health-conscious, and consumers are more demanding and knowledgeable. We provide that choice which until now, has not been available.

What would be your top equity crowdfunding tips?

You can plan all the marketing strategy and have the best videographers etc., but it all comes down to your product/service and track record. For us, it’s all about our multi-award-winning product and our growth story.