How two actors started a multi-million pound natural deodorant brand from their kitchen hob
2020 saw the official commercial launch of AKT London, a natural deodorant brand founded by Ed Currie and Andy Coxon.
Since then, they’ve raised roughly $10 Million, sold over 500,000 units, won 21 awards and been stocked in major retailers like Sephora and Space NK. It’s safe to say this is a brand on the rise and is predicted to generate £10’s of millions in revenue over the coming years. But what if we told you that it all started cooking up batches on a kitchen stove.
We decided to investigate AKT London. Focusing on how they started, where they were selling, and what decisions led to the brand we see today. All in the hope that we learn a few things, and understand Ed and Andy’s path a little better.
The co-founders met through their shared work, performing on stage in West End productions. Night after night they found themselves under the stifling heat of stage conditions. For which an effective deodorant solution was a must, and unfortunately (predominantly for their co-stars) Currie and Coxon found every available option wanting.
Despite a significant lack of experience in the area and no formal training in cosmetic formulation, Currie and Coxon started formulating their own deodorant balms. It was there, in their tiny Camden kitchen, that the seeds of AKT London were first planted. Initially using formulas found online, it was through significant testing and iteration that they reached a formulation suitable for the stage.
Operating under the brand name 'Pitt London', in late 2018 they launched a Kickstarter campaign for their idea.
One of the most important considerations when launching a crowdfunding campaign, especially on a lower budget, is how you’re going to attract backers. Currie and Coxon looked at the assets they had, and while money may have been limited, they had product samples. And the samples were great.
On the campaign launch day, Currie and Coxon personally delivered 1,000 samples directly to fellow actors across the West End. By niching down and focusing their sampling efforts to a core location they could saturate a market with their message, allowing them to grow through word of mouth and referrals. The sampling strategy worked and drove hordes of people willing to put their money behind the idea, raising £40,741 from 969 backers over 31 days (against a £15,000 target).
There was no time to celebrate however, as the success of the Kickstarter campaign had attracted attention. Another company had trademarked the ‘Pitt London’ brand name during the campaign, and because Currie and Coxon hadn’t protected the name first, ‘Pitt London’ was finished.
‘Pitt London’ might have been abandoned, but the idea and the product were here to stay. Perhaps a little crushed, but altogether unwilling to admit defeat, the founders met with the Two Times Elliott agency, a London based branding and design studio. Working together they came up with an exciting new brand, AKT London. Priced at £18, AKT’s deodorant balms were high end, premium, plastic-free alternatives to traditional deodorants.
By Spring 2020, AKT London has officially launched in retail and online. Although it is worth noting that their retail offering consisted of being stocked exclusively at John Bell & Croyden’s single store.
With the 969 backers from the Kickstarter campaign serving as initial customers, AKT London had a community they could call on for immediate revenue. This early traction was highly valuable, especially to outside investors looking for early positive signs that the brand was on an upward trajectory. In October 2021 AKT secured £1.5 million in funding from the private investment firm Stonebridge.
By June 2022, roughly two years after their launch, they had generated £1.25M in revenue with 85,000 units sold. Interestingly, 96% of this revenue came through their website, with the remaining 4% generated through wholesale channels.
A massive engine behind this early traction was their recurring model. AKT had cultivated a loyal base of over 5,000 active subscribers who generated roughly 43% of total revenue. This was powered by an impressive 231% Year on Year subscription growth between January 2021 and January 2022. And the unit economics were rock solid from day one, averaging 80% product margins even at early-stage production volumes.
Since then, AKT London has continued to grow exponentially, and six years after mixing formulas in their kitchen, they’ve gone from just an idea to where we see them today. As mentioned we were primarily investigating how AKT London began, and while there is undoubtedly much more to learn from how the brand grew past the £1M mark, that is for another time. So, for now, what can we learn from AKT’s meteoric rise if we aim to achieve similar results?
- Currie and Coxon executed their Kickstarter campaign exceptionally well. Beyond its obvious function as a tool to raise money, it served as the foundation for AKT's early community, meaning the brand launched with an engaged customer base rather than from a standing start. For crowdfunding success, identify a small, specific beachhead segment and use targeted sampling within it to generate word of mouth, removing the need for significant advertising spend.
- Subscriptions also proved central to AKT's model. Nearly all their early revenue came through their website, with 40% of that generated by subscriptions. This recurring revenue base allowed them to grow consistently, gave investors’ confidence, and preserved better margins than retail partnerships would have offered.
- Finally, protect your IP early. Currie and Coxon failed to trademark the Pitt London name before investing heavily in the brand, a costly oversight that could easily have derailed the business. Registering trademarks before committing serious money to branding is a relatively small expense that eliminates a significant and avoidable risk.
