The Pitch Deck That a Fitness Founder, 24, Used to Raise $5.7 Million

• Grace Beverley, 24, founded Tala in May 2019 while completing her degree at Oxford University.
• Tala, the first of two businesses she launched, just closed its initial funding round.
• Here’s the pitch deck Beverley used to raise a $5.7 million round led by Active Partners and Venrex.

Grace Beverley, 24, was already a successful fitness influencer when she launched sustainable activewear brand Tala, in May 2019 while pursuing her undergraduate degree at Oxford University.

Beverley had been trying to make more sustainable purchasing decisions.

But she said that, within six months of trying to avoid purchasing fast fashion, she realized activewear was being “completely neglected”  in the sustainable clothing market. She added that new sustainably-produced activewear cost significantly more than nonsustainable competitors.

“You’re looking at £80-plus usually for a pair of leggings, and that just seemed insane to me,” Beverley told Insider. “It would be telling people to choose better options and then to be telling them that they have to essentially pay for the privilege to do so.”

She decided to create a brand of sustainable, reasonably-priced activewear that was conceived out of “her own wardrobe problems.”

Each product on her website states what percentage recycled fabric the item is and which of Tala’s partnered factories it was produced in.

On Beverley’s website, she states where each of her factories are, what environmental and ethical working practice accreditations they have, and when Tala first started working with them.  

Beverley told Insider that she originally launched Tala by partnering with a company that owned a sustainability-focused factory in Portugal. She made a licensing deal and split the revenue. This meant she could find Tala’s working capital without major investment.

The licensing deal ended in December 2020, and by April the business was fully incorporated, with a new head of product and managing director.

The Times of London reported in April that Tala had done £10 million in sales since its launch. The company had grown significantly over nearly three years, and Beverley decided to start fundraising in August.

“It just seemed like the perfect time to get the most exciting people and the most experienced people around the table,” she told Insider.

Beverley walked Insider through the pitch deck she used to secure $5.7 million in her first round of funding, co-led by Active Partners and Venrex.

Other investors included Nicola Kilner, the CEO of Deciem, the company behind The Ordinary, and Simon Mottram, the CEO of Rapha.