Parenting retail brand The Memo has landed a $20 million investment from Pier 12 Capital, with the firm taking a minority stake.
“Our mission is as clear, exciting and important as it was six years ago, to change the way parenting is retailed and experienced in Australia,” co-founder Phoebe Simmonds tells Women’s Agenda.
“This investment will allow us to expand our boutiques into more cities, meeting our customers where they are, from Perth, to Adelaide to Brisbane, and provide more parents with the simplified, modern, empathetic retail experience and brand connection they expect and deserve.”
With its headquarters located in Melbourne, The Memo is an omnichannel retailer focused on the early parenting lifecycle, with products ranging across essentials for pregnancy, postpartum, baby and toddler categories.
Executive Director of Pier 12 Capital Laz Siapantas has spoken to the decision to fund The Memo, saying: “We recognised the Memo’s ability to redefine parenting and baby retail in Australia through its unique combination of curated products and exceptional in-store experience.”
The Memo was founded in 2019 by ex Mecca and LVMH executives Kate Casey and Phoebe Simmonds. Since then, the company has amassed an Instagram following of over 100,000 and opened four retail stores in Armadale, Fitzroy, Highpoint and Bondi Junction.
“We’ve had a lot of pinch me moments but in particular feedback from customers, even from early on, is what really brings us joy and motivates our hard work,” Casey has said previously.
The Memo has seen revenue grow by 40 per cent year-on-year, and the new $20 million funding will allow the business to widen its retail network, according the the AFR, with new stores being set to open next year in Perth, Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley and Mosman in Sydney.
Casey and Simmonds have taken a customer-centric approach to business with The Memo, saying that they understand their customer base are new parents who often don’t yet know much about the industry or may feel confused about what they need.
“I think so many retailers forget that expecting parents don’t know this category at all, it’s the first time they’ve had to think about, for example, a breast pump, or consider the benefits of a wipedownable change mat,” said Simmonds.
“When we created The Memo, I was single and had no kids, and Kate was a mum-of-two. So when I was writing copy I was calling her saying ‘seriously, what the fk is a perineum’ and ‘why would I need a white noise machine’ or ‘this does what??!!??’,” she has said, adding that this meant she ended up writing the copy as if she was explaining it to herself, or to a friend approaching parenthood for the first time.
“This approach I believe is refreshing in the industry where there is a ton of assumed knowledge but limited commitment to actually meeting the needs, concerns or confusion of the customer.”
Considering the parenting and baby industry is dominated by big brands, such as Baby Bunting, The Memo has focused on keeping up with demand as a small business.
Last year, The Memo debuted a postpartum skincare line, called Due, and they’re planning to begin wholesaling it and growing to international markets.
The Memo has also created a bespoke Gift Registry tech after spending 15 months developing it, and Simmonds considers this one of their biggest achievements to date, as well as opening a boutique and added services to their offerings.