Former Sainsbury’s CEO, Justin King CBE, Invests In Nimble.
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George Taylor
- 2nd March 2022
- 6 minute read
The child-friendly cleaning brand, Nimble, has welcomed Sainsbury’s former CEO, Justin King CBE to the team as an Investor and Advisor.
Justin’s appointment comes as Nimble seeks to raise £200K through Crowdcube to scale up the business, and to invest in further product development, supporting ambitious growth plans online, and in retail.
Von Sy Founded Nimble in 2015 after becoming an uncle for the first time. He was SHOCKED at the amount of chemicals used in most cleaning products, so he decided to create an effective alternative, which is suitable for families with babies, and young children.
““Becoming an uncle and soon after, a father, made me determined that an effective, safe cleaning brand was what the market was missing,” said Von Sy.
Von used his savings to create the Nimble Milk Buster, an innovative baby bottle cleaner that effectively removes milk residues by detaching milk fat and proteins from plastic. His niece’s milk bottles were getting cloudy and smelly, and regular washing-up liquids were leaving strong chemical smells.
Since launching, Nimble has gone on to launch a range of six non-toxic, plant-based products for laundry, bottle-cleaning, surface cleaning, and hand sanitising, which sits well with Von’s career credentials: Von, the Philippines native, is a qualified chemist who previously worked in R&D for the multinational consumer goods company Unilever. He was a detergent chemist for over ten years.
Justin was initially introduced to the business at an online pitching event last year (2021), and he was highly impressed with the brand, its management team, and the scientific rigour behind the products.
“We are absolutely thrilled to have Justin King, the former head of a multi-billion-pound retailer, and a respected industry thought-leader, to join our emerging business. In the short time we’ve known each other, he’s given us a number of valuable insights, and he’s been a real pleasure to work with,” said Von.
“Von has impressed me with his energy and enthusiasm and he has developed unique products which have built a loyal following. I’m excited to be able to help him and his team build a unique and valuable business,” said Justin.
In 2020, Nimble were featured on BBC’s Dragons’ Den, and Von Sy was offered investment from three of the show’s dragons, but this was ultimately declined over concerns about equity dilution. Nimble has received numerous industry accolades, including winning the Infant Care category in The Grocer’s New Product Awards in 2021.
Their products are currently available online, and in over 900 sites in the UK, as well as being stocked by a range of retailers, including Tesco and Sainsbury’s. Nimble has sold more than 500,000 units in the UK, and overseas.
You can find out more about Nimble here.
