Approach

Problem

Consumers versus the world?

FIGR’s mission was born out of the co-founders’ mutual passion for consumer products – from fashion and beauty to food and beverages – and concern for environmental and social issues worldwide, in some cases being exacerbated by the consumer sector.

Idealists picture a world where consumers reduce their purchases to the bare minimum. This purist thinking has driven many consumer businesses to sit at the extreme ends of the spectrum, with a feeling that they must choose between staying as a small kitchen-table business or scaling and becoming inherently “bad”. Simultaneously, some traditional investors continue to put money into irresponsible businesses, such as fast fashion, in pursuit of profit alone.

Story

It all started with artisans.

Fiona and Ellie met at lifestyle media house Hearst UK. Tasked with creating the Small Business Partnerships team to monetise opportunities for artisans across e-commerce, events and media space, they started to think about what high-potential small consumer businesses really need to grow, and what this growth could look like if businesses and investors considered people, planet and profit.

Around the same time, Fiona was beginning to develop the philanthropic strategy for a private family office, and had started to explore how philanthropy and investment could combine to maximise social and environmental impact.

Mission

We empower innovators to shape the consumer sector of the future.

FIGR invests in early-stage, mission-driven startups with the potential to shape consumer behaviour. We take a two-pronged approach to impact, by backing responsible for-profit organisations via FIGR and supporting non-profit organisations via the Harrington Foundation.

At FIGR, our approach centres on partnering with socially and environmentally responsible consumer businesses with the potential to be highly commercially successful. We invest in three types of changemaker:

Switchers
Switchers disrupting the consumer sector with exciting alternatives to existing consumer goods. Responsible products people want to use.
Enablers
Enablers supporting consumers and businesses to responsible choices. Tools and resources enabling everyone to do better.
Solvers
Solvers creating groundbreaking solutions to unsolved issues affecting consumers’ lives. Tackling real problems for real people.

  • Switchers

    Switchers disrupting the consumer sector with exciting alternatives to existing goods. Responsible products people want to use.

  • Enablers

    Enablers supporting consumers and businesses to make responsible choices. Tools and resources enabling everyone to do better.

  • Solvers

    Solvers creating groundbreaking solutions to unsolved issues affecting consumers’ lives. Tackling real problems for real people.

Approach

We won’t shape the consumer sector of the future overnight.

We don’t work to typical venture capital timelines, because we believe driving real change takes time. We also believe bringing investors on board is about much more than funding - we want to be the first investor our founders call if they need support or have exciting news to share! We provide a non-judgemental thinking partnership, expertise from our team and advisors, and introductions to our wider network.

We typically invest £150-300k of patient capital at pre-seed and seed stage.

We invest in businesses…

  • Shaping the consumer sector as a switcher, enabler or solver

  • With a responsible social and environmental approach

  • Based in the UK or Europe

  • Generating revenue (less than £2 million in the last year)

  • With innovative and passionate founders at the helm

  • Confident that funding from FIGR will help to achieve their goals (investment isn’t right for everyone!)

Values

  • We make a difference

    We’re here to drive positive environmental and social change, so we look at all prospective investments through the lens of their impact. We also partner with The Harrington Foundation as we believe combining philanthropic grants and investing for impact is the best way to make a difference.

  • We do the right thing

    FIGR has a strong moral compass. Although we want our investments to make a great return, we will not compromise on our commitment to make a difference. We act with integrity, compassion and respect. 

  • We take risks

    We have the confidence to be brave, as we know this is the only way to make a change. We prioritise potential over experience and take chances on great people. We’re open to leading rounds, investing before institutional funders and funding first-time founders. 

  • We say what we mean

    In an industry rife with complicated jargon and lengthy processes, we choose clarity. We want everyone we work with to know exactly where they stand. We’re transparent and straightforward, and we communicate our decisions quickly – founders are too busy to be left in the lurch!