Common Objective raises £350,000 in crowdfunding campaign

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
May 11, 2020

B2B sourcing platform Common Objective has announced it has exceeded its initial crowdfunding target of £350,000, and is now in overfunding.

The Crowdcube campaign, which allows anyone to become a shareholder, closes this Friday (15 May).

Common Objective is also backed by industry leaders including designer Roland Mouret and the former owner of Jaeger and Aquascutum, Harold Tillman.

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The fashion start-up is a tech solution for the sustainable fashion industry. Its platform unites over 30,000 fashion industry members, including leading brands such as Vivienne Westwood, Burberry and M&S, suppliers and SMEs.

With a strong focus on sustainability, the site matches professionals and buyers with suppliers, information and experts. More sustainable and ethical businesses gain higher search rankings on the site, creating a race to the top, in which best practice is rewarded. 

The company’s features are taking on new importance as the fashion industry starts to adapt to a post-coronavirus future. According to the firm, over $2.8 billion of apparel orders have been cancelled in Bangladesh, affecting up to 4.1 million workers.

Thousands of fashion suppliers urgently need to rebuild their customer base, and with trade events cancelled to the end of the year, suppliers have no choice but to seek buyers online

“For the team and leadership at CO, this crisis has motivated us to redouble our efforts. Our mission has always been to create a platform through which great business is done - business that maximises benefits to people and minimises impact on the environment, from one end of the supply chain to the other,” said Tamsin Lejeune, CEO and founder.
 
“Fashion business, done well, is transformative, creating inspiring products and sustainable, fulfilling jobs, grounded in fair practices between buyers and suppliers.”