True has invested one million pounds in premium direct-to-consumer bedding brand, Bedfolk. The funds will be used to expand the Bedfolk collection and add new product lines, as well as to invest in talent and marketing.

Retail and fashion supply chain experts, PDS Multinational Group have co-invested in True’s Early Stage Investment Fund as part of an agreement to support its journey to identify innovative solutions for its customers.

True and hush today announce a new partnership to mark the next chapter of the fashion and lifestyle brand’s continued growth story, with True investing in hush in a deal that has been several years in the making and reflects our shared ambition in the digital retail space.

True has appointed Susanne, who has a wealth of experience across retail including roles as Chief Operating Officer at Superdry plc, Buying Director at John Lewis & Partners and UK/Ireland Managing Director at TK Maxx to chair of it's fashion and lifestyle retailer hush.

Here at True we're fortunate to witness the innovation activities of a wide range of players from early-stage brands through to emergent, scaling operators all the way to some of the largest global businesses. In addition to ongoing, organic innovation we are increasingly seeing a trend towards acquisition as a means for larger companies to expand their capabilities and reach. Here Matt investigates why more businesses are turning to investment to innovate.

Giles Humphries, CMO and Co-founder of health-focused food box, Mindful Chef, talks to Rich about how he and his Co-founder built their business to put purpose, people and planet at the heart of their operations. Giles also shares his founder journey from the early stages through to its acquisition by Nestle and discusses some of the challenges faced during the pandemic, which included how to deal with a trebling of demand over a very short period.

With an increased awareness among consumers of the impact a meat-free diet can have on climate change and the environment, allplants has put plant-based eating at the heart of their business. Hear how Jonathan (JP) has built his business to harness not only the vegan target market, but the thousands of consumers who are looking to put plants at the heart of their diet, whether that is for their own health reasons, or for the health of the environment.

Alison Hutchinson CBE, Founder & CEO of Pennies, the UK's leading fintech charity, speaks to Rich about the charity's unique model and challenges in funding the development of such an innovative platform. They discuss everything from having to create a complicated payments platform, with a lean team, through to the huge impact retailers and brands can make to their nominated charities through the micro-donations platform.

How do you level the playing field between the sexes in male-dominated sports? If you were brave you could start by setting up a new all-female motor sport business and race series. This is exactly what Catherine Bond Muir has done with the single-seater W-Series. Catherine speaks to Rich about the commercial challenges of setting up such an expensive sport and fundraising more generally, while driver Powell talks to Rich about her role as an influencer in supporting and growing the series.

True acquired sustainable kidswear brand Frugi in 2018. Nine months on, Rich Anson catches up with Frugi’s Co-founder Lucy Jewson and True’s Co-founder Paul Cocker about why Lucy and her husband – a couple with a passion for the planet – decided True would be the right investor to work with as they grow their company the responsible way.

Ribble Cycles is a bike brand to be passionate about, and the company has rewarded our own faith with superb performance since we acquired it in November 2015. True brought in CEO Andy Smallwood, formerly of Boardman Bikes, to help support the growth and transformation of the brand. The results of the rebrand have been phenomenal, with sales growing 50% year-on-year and a significant increase in the average selling price of each bike, reflecting the increasingly aspirational nature of the brand.

True invested in the game-changing beauty brand War Paint in 2020, following a period of massive growth for the company. Founder of War Paint, Danny Gray, talks to Rich about how he used his experience as a teenager to build a successful business in one of the fastest growing sectors of the beauty industry.

An exciting new chapter for The Cotswold Company begins, as True appoints Ralph Tucker as CEO of the business, charged with driving the next stage of growth. The Cotswold Company, a leading online furniture retailer and a True portfolio company, specialises in oak, pine and painted furniture and also sells through its showrooms in Stow-on-the-Wold, Chelmsford, Norwich, Godalming and Harrogate.

Sneak is disrupting the energy drinks market, with a distinctively branded healthy alternative. We believe that Sneak has the creativity, brand power, product attributes, and founding team to continue its disruption of the UK energy drinks market and to grow internationally, both in the US and Europe.

Following a year of rapid acceleration in digital adoption – to coin a Bezos phrase – many brands and retailers are looking at how, using technology, they can turn cost centres into profit centres, a practise that we, at True, love.

True portfolio company and sustainable apparel business The Frugi Group, has appointed Sarah Clark, formerly CCO of luxury British furniture brand OKA, as its new CEO. Sarah will work alongside the existing management team in driving an exciting next chapter of growth and expansion for the future-facing brand.

True has achieved B Corporation certification – the gold standard in balancing people, purpose and profit. True is just one of a few thousand companies worldwide to become a certified B Corporation and just one of a very small number of investment firms.

Consumer specialists True scale their investment and innovation firm to more than £600m AUM in just five years – with the Covid downturn proving to be no barrier to performance.

Walgreens, America’s best-loved pharmacy, health and beauty company, today announced two innovation challenges in collaboration with True, as part of its ongoing mission to offer the best variety of accessible omnichannel services and products for its customer-base.

On 10th October, leaders and innovators from across our Live Network gathered at Sea Containers, London to exchange ideas with the innovators and leaders making waves in the retail and consumer industries. Fever-Tree‘s CEO and co-founder, Tim Warrillow, delivered the keynote, while the founders from the latest startups to join our network, Klydo and Stitched, completed the line-up.