True has invested in COAT, the high-grade, sustainable paint company alongside venture capital Trust Pembroke VCT who led the round. COAT, which has been carbon-neutral since launch, is revolutionising the home decorating experience by redefining the customer experience of purchasing paint. This new investment into the homeware category follows on from True’s recent £1m investment in D2C luxury bedding business Bedfolk in May.
Founded by Rob Abrahams and Rob Green in 2020, COAT was launched to address the negative aspects associated with the $90bn legacy paint industry and meet the needs of a more contemporary consumer by focusing on quality, sustainability and customer experience.
Taking advantage of the founders’ combined experience in the paint industry and consumer marketing business, COAT offers a range of hand-made-to-order paints with free next-day delivery.
COAT has simple ‘paint principles’ designed to allow customers to transform their home without the struggle, with just three paint finishes and a curated range of 36 on-trend colours selected and constantly refined, based on customer feedback. Rather than wasteful tester pots, COAT offers fully recyclable peel-and-stick swatches that not only allow customers to compare colours easily in different areas but also achieve 95% less waste than traditional messy tester pots.
In the seven months since launch, COAT has built an engaged community of over 20,000 customers and has collaborated with other premium brands such as Urban Outfitters and Swoon.
COAT has been carbon neutral from day one and places a huge emphasis on sustainability, which is evidenced in its Ethical Business report. Its made-to-order paint prioritises sustainable materials, results in zero-waste production and is offered alongside environment-friendly bamboo paint supplies. COAT also offers a unique 360-degree recycling service for leftover paint. It’s sustainability background is one that marries well with True’s mission to build better businesses, that don’t put profit before people and planet.
Claire Cherry, Investment Principal True said: “With COAT’s leading credentials in sustainability, a great founding team and the disruptive nature of the business in a category that is in need of revamping, the opportunity to invest was one we couldn’t turn down. With a growing collection of contemporary homeware brands in our portfolio we are looking forward to working with the COAT team and offering valuable introductions and sharing specialist category insight to support their continued growth.”
Rob Green, Co-Founder, COAT said: “We started COAT to change the paint game for good – making it much simpler, easier and environmentally responsible for people to glow-up their homes. Whether that’s from the curated range of 36 colours or clever Peel & Stick swatches, through to high-grade water-based paints and the Carbon Neutral operations. We’ve gone ‘ground up’ with COAT and built a paint company with a difference that we, and our customers, can be proud of.”
