Aussie brand Infamous Swim eyes global expansion with equity crowdfunding campaign

Original mummy-and-me swimwear brand Infamous Swim is calling on investors to come on board and help the label establish a strong presence in the UK and European Union markets, as well as expand its warehousing and staffing capabilities.

The Australian label, which has generated $16.5 million in revenue in the past 12 months and is projected to reach $18 million in revenue by 2024, is preparing to open up an offer to investors through the equity crowdfunding platform Birchal.

Infamous Swim has confirmed the funds from the Birchal campaign will be invested in expanding its warehouse and team facilities, enhancing its inventory broadening its product categories, and taking the label’s marketing strategy further.

Additional funds will also be put towards collaborating with global platforms to expedite direct-to-consumer cross-border growth. Currently, Infamous Swim sells to 70 countries across the world.

To date, the label has sold more than 756,000 swimsuits to more than 440,000 people in the brand’s home base of Australia since it was founded in 2018. 

Since then, it has expanded to include accessories, activewear, loungewear, sleepwear and resort wear, raking in a combined $41.1 million revenue to date, more than 816% growth in total sales revenue from 2020 to June 2023, and an email and SMS database of over 440,000 customers.

A family brand

Infamous Swim founder and CEO Gemma Crowe says investors in the equity crowdfunding raise will become shareholders and therefore contribute to the growth of the family brand.

The brand will reveal its minimum and maximum targets for the raise when its offer goes live on October 17. 

“We have completely bootstrapped the business to $41.4 million over a five-year period, which has had its challenges, and now we want our community and investors to come on board and contribute to our expansion in the USA and opening up to new markets in the EU and UK,” Crowe told SmartCompany. 

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Infamous Swim has 13 full-time employees and a bunch of warehouse casuals working behind the scenes.

The label has a combined total of 1 million followers through all of its socials, with 691,000 Instagram followers, 121,000 followers on TikTok, and over 800 million total marketing impressions worldwide.

Crowe says it has been an overwhelming and emotional experience to get to this stage, and no easy feat. 

“With many ups and downs we have pushed through and continued through difficult circumstances,” she says. 

“We built an amazing organic following through Instagram in the early beginnings working with mum bloggers from around Australia, and swimwear collaborations too.

“We dabbled in paid Facebook marketing early on, and saw successes, so with a few hurdles found amazing partners who work alongside us to scale the brand to the success it is today.

Next level of growth

“In the very short time we have been around, we have surrounded ourselves with amazing coaches and advisors who help make calculated decisions at each stage. 

“We are definitely ready for our community to come on board and are also looking for a strategic or angel investor who has walked this walk before.”

As for the next steps, Crowe says the crowdfunding raise will allow Infamous Swim to increase inventory, expand its product range categories, and grow its warehouse and team.

“Infamous is also looking for a partner to come on board who is a perfect fit to help drive the growth of our amazing brand,” she said. 

“We are partnering with ‘Global-e’, the world-leading platform enabling and accelerating global, direct-to-consumer cross-border growth.

“I’m confident that equity crowdfunding will take us to the next level of our evolution.”