Kick Sport receives additional investment from Catapult

The investment was provided by the Catapult Growth Fund, which held a final close on £30m in January in 2007. The cash injection will be used to develop and launch a subsidiary business called Umkiki, which aims to create partnerships with martial arts clubs and associations.

In time, Umkiki will be available to a range of other sports and leisure activities including dance clubs, horse riding centres, and pilates and yoga instructors.

Catapult previously led a £850,000 investment into the online retailer in July 2011.

Company
Kick Sport is based in Peterborough and was founded in 2009. The company's original business model is that of a martial arts-focused online retailer. It sells more than 2,000 product lines including its own label clothing.

The new subsidiary business will allow partners to run their own online stores linked to Umkiki but customised to reflect their individual site. Partners such as sports clubs, instructors and associations will receive commission on sales while Umkiki will handle order processing, shipping and returns.

People
Investment director Ed Wass led the round for Catapult. James Rolfe joined Kick Sport in 2012 as executive chairman – he has a fifth degree black belt in Taekwondo.

Advisors
Equity – George Green (Legal); Kalbian Hagerty (Legal).

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• Topics
• UK / Ireland
• Expansion
• Consumer
• Catapult Venture Managers
• United Kingdom