Cycling brand Le Col gets new investment

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Nov 12, 2019

Premium performance cycling apparel brand Le Col has secured an additional £2.5million investment from Puma Private Equity “to further accelerate its growth plans in 2020”.

The investment firm previously pumped £2.35 million into Le Col at the end of last year and the new money “will provide the company with funds to continue creating a truly global brand and accelerate its already successful growth strategy”. It said “Le Col will be stepping up its partnerships with the professional side of cycling on the world stage whilst also increasing its research and development into new technical advancements”.

Tommy O’Sullivan, MD at Puma Private Equity, who joined the board of Le Col last year, said the company “is in an extremely exciting position, having achieved explosive growth over the last 12 months. We expect its proposition of performance-led excellence, energy and passion for cycling to continue to drive the business forward in the years to come.”

The brand, which was founded by ex-professional cyclist Yanto Barker in 2011 “has its DNA in the pro peloton” and has been raising its profile this year as kit partner to two men’s and two women’s professional cycling teams in the 2019 season. 

London-based but manufacturing in Italy, it more than doubled its revenues in the first half of 2019 (although it didn’t give actual figures) and in July, it partnered with Clear Channel and Strava throughout the Tour de France to run a world-first out of home ‘challenge’ advertising campaign. 

Meanwhile, it said its collaboration with Sir Bradley Wiggins on the ‘Le Col by Wiggins’ collection “has continued to go from strength to strength since its launch in early 2018”. It has also forged other partnerships with Eurosport, Colnago, Sigma Sports and Wiggle.