YoungPlanet launches crowdfunding campaign to spearhead national expansion
Circular economy app YoungPlanet has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube today, as the circular economy platform for parents looks to expand its offering following months of growth.
YoungPlanet works by providing a ‘cashless’ platform based on a sharing economy model. Parents can list or request a range of different children’s items; from books and clothes to toys and baby equipment. Everything on the app is always given or received for free.
The funding round on Crowdcube had a minimum target of £350,000 - representing 5% in the business, which was achieved in the first 7 hours prior to the campaign going public. The campaign has already been overfunded. The investment will be used to grow the YoungPlanet community even further following its recent expansion to all postcodes across the UK.
In the past seven months, the app has seen an additional 25,000 parents sign-up to its service; with users now surpassing 36,000. Over 9,500 children’s items have found new homes through YoungPlanet since its launch in 2019.
The YoungPlanet business is now valued at £6.5 million pre-money, part of a booming sharing economy that is set to be worth £9 billion within the next 5 years.
Jason Ash, co-founder of YoungPlanet, comments:
“Since launching in 2019, YoungPlanet has gone from strength to strength. Even through one of the most turbulent times for start-ups, YoungPlanet has still managed to attract over 36,000 users across the UK who believe in its mission. In addition, we have successfully overfunded our third round of equity fundraising in just one day. There’s been a surge in demand for YoungPlanet during lockdown because we help parents take the cost and hassle out of becoming a more environmentally responsible parent, as well as connecting neighbourhoods.
“As founders, our goal is to transform one of the most wasteful and most costly industries into one of the most sustainable. We’re hoping people will join us on our mission to reduce waste, reduce cost and bring communities closer together.”
