Ingenious Ventures has led a Series A investment round into Casabu alongside existing backer Horatio Investments.

London-based Casabu runs daily sale events offering what it calls ‘time-poor, price conscious mums’ discounts on clothing, children’s toys, nursery equipment and maternity wear.

The business was started by Rachel Oxburgh and John Heseltine in 2011. Oxburgh had previously founded digital agency The Storm as well as working for dotcom business Scient and as a geochemistry lecturer at Edinburgh University. 

Ingenious Ventures, the private equity division of investment and advisory firm Ingenious, has made the investment through its first Media Opportunities Fund which provides early-stage capital to companies in the media and creative industries sector.

Oxburgh, the company’s CEO, says, ‘The beauty of the flash sales model is that we don’t need to sink capital into stock and we can use this investment to grow our customer base.

‘As well as acquiring customers through traditional channels, we will be investing in new technologies that enable us to deliver the best in customer curation, personalisation and social shopping.’

As well as the company’s founding executive team of Oxburgh and Heseltine, Casabu has also recruited Matt Rowe, formerly of The Storm and LBi as well as Oxburgh’s husband, as creative director, Leslie-Ann Philips of Mothercare and House of Fraser experience as head of buying and former head of marketing at Achica, Julie Fawcett.

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To coincide with the investment, Ingenious has agreed an ‘exclusive partnership’ with the corporate venturing arm of advertising agency BBH, Zag.

The partnership has been formed, Ingenious says, to supply a ‘distinctive investment proposition’ to British world-leading creative industries.

Going forward, the two bodies will identify, meet and assess EIS-qualifying opportunities and then make investments in a joint equity capacity.

Commenting on the investment into Casabu, Patrick Bradley, CEO of Ingenious Ventures, adds, ‘Casabu is just the sort of company Ingenious Ventures loves to work with.

‘When we met Rachel and her team, we were immediately impressed by their ambition and enthusiasm, but most of all their innate understanding of the market they are targeting.