Welsh eco pet product start-up Project Blu secures deal.

Welsh eco pet product start-up Project Blu has secured a multi-million-pound deal with San Diego-based Metamorphosis, a venture capital firm dedicated to the incubation and acceleration of businesses in the pet industry.

The multi-million, multi-year deal will see Metamorphosis take an equity stake in Project Blu, which was founded in 2019 by 35-year-old Geryn Evans. The first global pet brand to offer a full range of sustainable accessories, the company aims to reduce global ocean-bound plastic waste and the broader environmental impact of manufacturing pet products through harnessing innovative textiles and technologies. 

Project Blu, which recently scooped three Wales Start-Up Awards, has sold over 87,000 products made from over six million plastic bottles since it was founded, offering a range including leads, harnesses, pet beds and toys. Since launching at the Zoomark exhibition in Bologna, Italy, in May 2019, the company has secured UK stockist deals with retailers John Lewis and Joules and sells direct to consumer via its eCommerce platform. 

The firm has been assisted by the Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme (AGP) which provides targeted support for ambitious growing firms. The programme is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government

Project Blu Founder Geryn Evans. | A happy pooch in a Project Blu pet bed.

Project Blu has also been making waves internationally with global pet health and nutrition leader Mars Petcare investing $200,000 into the business and awarding the firm a place on the prestigious Leap Venture Studio accelerator programme in Los Angeles. 

Its latest deal will allow the company to harness the expertise of Metamorphosis' team of experts and entrepreneurs with a proven track record of building businesses in the ever-expanding $90 Billion pet industry. Metamorphosis' stated mission is to "create extraordinary value for stakeholders and clients by creating, operating, accelerating and marketing next-level pet content, media networks, products and services."

According to Mr Evans, the partnership will be a "game-changer" as the firm eyes expansion into the lucrative US and other international markets.

"Project Blu is all about driving positive change in an industry that was ripe for disruption. We aim to prove that pet brands can be sustainable, stylish and profitable on a global scale, and this partnership will be a crucial part of our plan to expand into several international markets in 2021.

"The pet industry is a growing, recession-resistant market where sustainability is one of the biggest emerging trends for pet owners who are increasingly conscious of how products are made and where they end up. We are incredibly excited about partnering with one of the biggest players in the marketplace, and we are looking forward to tapping into the knowledge and expertise of the Metamorphosis team to build our brand in the lucrative North American market and beyond."

Mr Evans started his career in the furniture design trade, where he designed several integrated technology products for major retailers. He was inspired by a collaboration between German multinational sports brand Adidas and "Parley for the Oceans", an organisation that addresses environmental threats posed by plastic pollution in the oceans. As a pet owner, he realised that the industry had been slow to respond to consumer concerns around sustainability and decided to address this gap by converting polluting materials into high-quality pet beds, leashes and toys. 

Describing himself as "obsessive" about finding new ways of combining textile innovation and technology to produce beautifully designed sustainable products, Mr Evans now plans to launch a 'ghost fishing net' range to tackle the problem of discarded fishing gear in the oceans. It is estimated that over 640,000 tons of fishing gear is lost or discarded in the oceans every year, not dissolving for centuries and posing a significant risk to marine life. The firm also plans to launch a range of products using apple leather; an eco-friendly leather substitute made using discarded apple skins from the Italian alps.

Since signing up to the Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme (AGP) programme in 2019, Project Blu has received mentoring and specialist advice on market analysis, funding and planning for growth. This support has proved "invaluable" according to Mr Evans.

"As a lean company, it's been invaluable to have the support of our relationship manager and other experts. The advice and expertise we have been able to access have helped me navigate the pitfalls, challenges and opportunities that come with growing a brand from scratch.

"We are very grateful for the service we have received from the Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme and would recommend it to any business looking to scale up and grow."

Richard Morris of the Excelerator Consortium, which delivers the Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme, said:

"It's been fantastic to see Project Blu come such a long way in such a short space of time, and their deal with Metamorphosis is further validation of their innovative concept. The company is an excellent example of a homegrown Welsh business providing solutions to one of the most significant environmental issues facing our planet today.

"The team are justifiably proud of their success, and we in Wales can be very proud of how this small company is leading the way in the effort to drive sustainability in a market that has previously been slow to rise to the challenge." 


To find out more about Project Blu visit its website here.

Further information on the Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme

Health & Her secures a six-figure follow-on investment from the Development Bank of Wales.

Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme client Health & Her secures a six-figure follow-on investment from the Development Bank of Wales. Read more at Inside Media Ltd

IT firm finds resilience through COVID-19

“The adoption of remote technology in business has probably advanced two to three years in the last three months.”

IT support firm Team Metalogic has been providing expertise and support for small businesses since 2003.

The business, founded and led by Mike Parfitt, really moved into an expansive phase as the credit crunch hit, when the financial crash led firms to examine how they could make efficiency savings. Since then the company has enjoyed further growth, expanding its workforce and winning new clients.

The company has been helped by the Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme (AGP), which provides targeted support for ambitious growing firms. The programme is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government.

We spoke to Mike earlier this year when he told us about his business journey here.

Like many businesses, the challenges Mike and his team have faced in 2020 have been challenges like no other. Here Mike tells us how Team Metalogic has met those obstacles head on, and how the company has responded to the pandemic.

How did COVID affect your business?
I never thought I’d be leading a business through a crisis like this one. The financial crash in 2008 was massive. In many very obvious ways, this crisis has been very different.

We’ve been really busy during the lockdown, with many clients realising that their teams need to be able to work remotely and efficiently. This in itself has created a challenge. It meant that the managed services aspect of the business has been incredibly overworked, meaning we could not furlough any staff, despite other areas of the business suffering a hit.

We also struggled with our supply chain, because of a huge demand for hardware across the world. This drove up prices and increased

delivery times. Many of our customers were now needing their teams to be able to work remotely, but others still relied on systems at their physical locations. To bring these systems online so that they can be accessed remotely, we needed to access these locations. With lockdown in place, this was very difficult.

We had also taken on two new highly-skilled project engineers just before lockdown. Although the projects they were brought in to manage were put on hold, we didn’t want to lose them, as highly skilled staff are tough to find. We had to use them elsewhere in the business even though this was not utilising their skills.

Despite being busy with the managed services aspect of our business, this was part of our retained offering, so it didn’t reflect an increase in income. We lost quite a bit of revenue during the three-month period lockdown was in place.

What did you put in place to overcome those challenges?
We introduced a number of measures to see us through. We:

● Temporarily reduced fees to support our clients where possible.

● Extended payment terms to clients where possible, to allow them time to manage cash flow and access grants or financial support.

● Communicated with clients and educated them about the supply chain, to ensure understanding of time frames and costs.

● We took the decision that we would act boldly and decisively, as in times of crisis we were either going to make it through or we weren’t so we would have to act quickly. This worked as we were ahead of the game and were able to support our clients more effectively.

● Accessed a Development Bank of Wales COVID support loan.

How have you come through the challenges facing your business?

Thanks to the plans we put in place, and the hard work of our fantastic team, our pipeline has tripled since the lockdown, and we continue to see high demand. The customers we supported throughout have remained with us and we are starting to get more new enquiries.

Like many other businesses we are having to manage our resources carefully to meet this increased demand while we recover and further prepare for the future.

What advice would you have for those who may face similar challenges as the uncertainty continues?
First and foremost, keep planning. We created a 90-day plan to deal with COVID, we educated our clients on what they’d need to cope with the changing circumstances, how long this would take and how to best manage the costs of these changes.

It can sound a bit clichéd, but organisations need to plan for the unplannable. Pre-COVID, not many business contingency plans would have included the wide-reaching implications of a global pandemic, or the fallout from it. Now, businesses need to have a plan in place for an event that could cause similar disruption, so that they can be agile and make the necessary changes, quickly and remotely.

It’s interesting what pressure can do to an entire industry, let alone an individual organisation. The adoption of remote technology in business has probably advanced two to three years in the last three months.

The uptake and quality of tools such as Microsoft Teams has progressed enormously and having a meeting remotely is now the standard. That’s something I think will remain even after these restrictions – it doesn’t really make sense to travel half the country for one meeting or to work for a day. With the right IT support and advice, any business can prepare for totally new ways of working, and that’s where we come in.

To find out more about Team Metalogic visit its website here.

Further information on the Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme