Young entrepreneur aims for social change and brand growth with £125k crowdfund

North West menswear label We Are Gntlmen has embarked on a crowdfunding campaign to secure £125k of investment.

The fundraise, through equity crowdfunding platform Crowdcube, has already attracted £50k just days after launching.

Manchester-based We Are Gntlmen was founded by 27-year-old entrepreneur Matt Bird in 2013. Since then, the brand has served customers in more than 16 countries, including Germany, Sweden, Korea and Japan.

Matt is now looking to build the brand beyond its core shirt collection, including through The Gntlmen’s Club Foundation – an initiative designed to help young men growing up without a male role model.

The foundation will use We Are Gntlmen’s brand values, which maintain that men should be honest, kind, well mannered and well dressed, to encourage positive change and provide support.

Partnerships with barber shops and bars also form part of Matt’s strategy to build the business.

He said: “With all of our plans to help grow the brand, it’s a really exciting time for us and the perfect time for this cash injection.

“We’ve built the brand organically so far, but now we’re looking to do things differently that haven’t been done before and cater for our customers lifestyles, outside of just fashion.”

Matt added: “We’ve got a really strong brand foundation, so now is the right time to really scale this brand online.”

Last year, We Are Gntlmen won funding alongside other startups at the #GoDoAcceler8 event in Manchester.