Ethical jewellery, accessories seller So Just Shop raises new funding

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Jul 8, 2021

So Just Shop has raised £250,000, giving the ethical, sustainable jewellery and accessories business a valuation of £2.25m.

The six-year-old ‘impact business’ aims to lift 400,000 women and families in some of the most vulnerable communities worldwide out of abject poverty. It said the raising “underlines the increasing appetite for lower-risk, higher-long-term-return sustainable and ethical businesses among investors”. 

The brand, which has a store in London's Seven Dials on Monmouth Street, sells ethical, sustainable jewellery, accessories and homeware made by female artisans in some of the most vulnerable communities worldwide, including in India, Nepal, Kenya, Ghana and Palestine.

In 2020, So Just Shop said it “thrived", providing over 50,000 hours of meaningful labour to its artisans, “who all work in safe conditions, for a fair wage, in a supply chain free from forced or child labour”.

Co-founders Jennifer Georgeson, Aqsa Khan and Judith Blair have now their sights set on providing another 120,000 hours of meaningful labour in 2021.

Georgeson said: “This investment helps us continue our incredible growth, working with more women, to provide more hours of meaningful labour and more opportunities for people to buy sustainable, ethical products at an affordable price. We’re delighted that investors are recognising and supporting what the future of fashion looks like and supporting the phenomenal impact So Just Shop has”.

Best-selling products include a Weekender Bag made in Delhi from recycled tyres, which reuses waste that otherwise provides a dangerous breeding ground for mosquitoes; recycled brass jewellery from a disabled women’s cooperative in Mombasa, scarves handmade by Tibetan refugees and blue and white ceramic tableware made in Palestine.