NStar, the technology investment fund, provided the company with £90,000, a further £100,000 came the finance network Share An Interest, and the remainder from private investors.
PointOV’s website is designed be like an ‘ethical Amazon’ and sells products of a similar nature to the Body Shop, the company say.
The funding is being used by the company to expand its premises, hire staff and boost its product range.
The company say that they are on target to achieve £1m of turnover by the end of its first year, after launching in June
Company founder Vic Morgan says he expects that the company will need to acquire further funding, possibly later next year.
Morgan has previous experience of launching ethical businesses and took his last e-commerce venture to a £3m turnover in four years from his New York base before selling to the magazine group National Geographic.
After meeting Andy Redfern, Mr Morgan moved from New York to Newcastle because he saw a bigger opportunity for ethical products in the UK.
He and Redfern founded the business in 2003 and began working with other ethical businesses offering services that enabled them to sell their products online.
However, both men were keen to launch their own retail businesses and have spent the last few years honing the company’s plan.
Morgan say that it was important that PointOV found investors which understood and appreciated the ethical base upon which the company is founded.
“This is a social enterprise as we are an ethical company in terms of the products that we sell,” Morgan said.
“It was very important to use that we found an investor that wanted a return but at the same time appreciated the social aspect,” he added.
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2006
