Unum readies for expansion following investment success
Following a successful investment round, Andrew Macauliffe (L) of Origin Capital and David Wright of LCIF2 (R) have joined Unum's Chris Brady (C) on the Board of Directors
Origin Capital and the Low Carbon Innovation Fund 2 (LCIF2) have become new Unum partners via a successful investment round.
The capital boost will allow Unum to expand its team, scale up its facilities, develop new products and gain new product certifications.
In a February 15 press release, Chris Brady, Founder and CEO, Unum, said, “This investment round has been a real vote of confidence in our vision to be the sustainable and credible alternative in business class seating. With the support of our investors, we have an exciting program of development ahead of us across our product, teams and facilities — so watch this space!”
Unum’s ambitious plans include expanding its range of seats and achieving initial certifications on all products. The team is set to expand with senior hires planned to build operations, supply chain and through life support teams in readiness for an initial customer program, expanding on the company’s existing design and certification teams. The Business Class seating manufacturer is also set to create an initial factory blueprint, gain regulatory approvals and invest in the required capital equipment to support its initial production requirements.
In the same February statement, Tim de Vere-Green, Founder and CEO at Origin Capital, commented, “We have been very impressed by the capabilities and experience of Unum’s leadership team, their passion for the inflight cabin product, and their vision for the business as the credible alternative in premium class seating. As the aerospace market swiftly recovers from the pandemic, and with the global aircraft fleet set to double in the next 20 years, we believe there are significant opportunities for Unum, which offers a great product, produced sustainably.”
David Wright, Director of LCIF2 fund manager Turquoise International, added, “We were attracted to Unum’s commitment to place sustainability at the heart of its organization — reducing embedded carbon within the seat by choosing the most sustainable materials available, and having an elegance and simplicity of design to reduce weight and therefore fuel burn over the life of the seat. Unum’s products will make a significant contribution to their customer’s journey to net zero.”
Following the investment Andrew McAuliffe of Origin, and David Wright of LCIF2, will take their place on Unum’s board of directors.
