Piper on the case with investment in innovative brand Mous

For immediate release – London, 20 September 2019

Piper, the specialist investor in consumer brands, has invested growth capital into Mous, the fast-growing direct-to-consumer tech accessories brand that has designed some of the most innovative phone cases available on the market that truly enhance everyday phone use.

Mous launched the Limitless 1.0 phone case in 2016 following an award-winning crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo which raised $2.5million in pre-orders from over 50,000 backers – at that time the largest ever phone case campaign on the crowd-funding platform. The business was started in 2014 by James Griffith and Josh Shires. The founding team grew in size and strength, with the additions of James Day, Will Mullen and Lucy Hutchinson. Griffith and Day, who started their careers with P&G, relocated to China alongside Shires and Mullen to immerse themselves in the design and production of phone cases before returning to set up the London office with Hutchinson.

Mous now has two product development teams, one based in the UK and one in China. The business has been built on phone cases that deliver extreme protection whilst putting a premium on style and functionality. All cases work seamlessly with a full ecosystem of accessories, including car mounts, wall mounts, wallets and super-strength charging cables.

Alongside its focus on designing world-class products, the team has also created highly engaging content to demonstrate to consumers how Mous performs on first-class quality and extreme protection. Its most successful YouTube content has received more than 18m views and shows phones protected by Mous cases being dropped off bridges, out of buildings, from a 45ft crane and out of a helicopter. Mous is a product brand which believes in the full customer experience: authentic story-telling and exceptional brand experience are at the heart of its offering.

Mous has seen sales grow 128% this year to £12.3m, and has established a strong international footprint, with 75% of sales generated overseas. Piper has taken a minority stake in the business.

James Griffith, CEO of Mous, said: ‘We are immensely proud of Mous and the exciting growth we have achieved to date and wanted to find an investor who felt as passionately about the business’s potential as we do. Although we had the opportunity to partner with others, we felt strongly that Piper would be best placed to help us strengthen our brand and provide us with the support we need to achieve our goals for the business.’

Fergus O’Sullivan, from Piper, said: ‘The global tech accessories market is worth in excess of $120bn and continues to see good growth. With a NPS [Net Promoter Score] of 82 and customers who are evangelical about Mous products, we are excited by what the brand can achieve. We love the energy and dynamism the founders have used to disrupt the category and build such a successful fast-growing business.’

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About Piper

Piper is a leading UK private equity firm specialising in consumer brands with strong growth potential. Established by entrepreneurs in 1985, it pioneered the concept of the ‘female-friendly’ bar by founding and developing the Pitcher & Piano chain. It has an enviable record of transforming businesses into iconic brands – previous investments include Boden, Maximuscle and Loungers. Focusing on MBO, MBI or growth capital investments in the sectors of retail, leisure, consumer products and services, Piper targets businesses with a £5m-£50m turnover. For more information, please visit piper.co.uk