Carl Friedrik secures £1m investment as it looks to venture into retail

London-based luxury travel goods brand Carl Friedrik has closed its first round of investment, raising £1 million through a customer-led angel round.

Inspired by the crowdfunding model, the brand invited its customers to be part of its growth while maintaining the structure of an angel investment round. The group of investors comprises a network of senior professionals from around the world.

With the capital, Carl Friedrik plans to invest in design and development, manufacturing and new distribution channels, including venturing into own retail.

It is currently stocked by Harrods, Selfridges and Case and has been featured on HBO’s ‘Succession’ and ‘The The Gentlemen’ on Netflix.

Co-founder and CEO Niklas Oppermann, said: "Our audience base consists of modern professionals working across business and financial services, so this novel approach to funding made a lot of sense, as the investors are already staunch supporters of the brand. We will lean on their wealth of varied industry knowledge in the coming years."

Launched 11 years ago, starting from a small initial investment of £10,000 by co-founders and brothers Niklas and Mattis Oppermann, and initially selling leather accessories, Carl Friedrik has seen steady year-on-year organic growth.

The introduction of its luggage line in 2019 accelerated and expanded the brand’s business further and saw Carl Friedrik triple its revenue in just four years. The Oppermann brothers remain as majority shareholders.