Take a look at some of our major milestones along the way:
APRIL 2016
LAUNCHING HEAD FIRST IN COFFEE
What better place to test our coffee-based skincare concept than at a Coffee Festival? The scrubs flew out the door – whoosh! We came, we scrubbed, we conquered. Maybe, just maybe, we were on to something.
SEPTEMBER 2016
LET'S DO THIS!
It was time to take the leap…the UpCircle sibling co-founders Will and Anna quit their jobs and risked it all to nurture their by-product beauty baby!
DECEMBER 2016
URBAN OUTFITTERS - OUR FIRST PARTNER
We sent hand-sealed, sellotaped up prototypes to UO HQ, perhaps we were too optimistic? Perhaps not. They loved the scrubs and became our first retail partner.
NOVEMBER 2017
THE PORTFOLIO GROWS
To meet our ever-growing list of retailers (including Thrive Market and Pharmaca) the coffee shop portfolio had to expand. By the end of 2017 we are regularly collecting coffee grounds from 100 artisan coffee shops.
FEBRUARY 2018
SMASHING TARGETS
We achieved our crowdfunding target of €260,000 in just three days and closed the round overfunded by €22,000. Mic drop.
MARCH 2018
CHAI FIVE
The return of the soap bar. We’re saving coffee, but why stop there? What’s next on our hit list? Chai. We begin salvaging the aromatic spices brewed to make chai syrup, transforming them into new soaps.
AUGUST 2018
INTO THE DEN
The co-founding siblings take their chances against the Dragons…and walk away victorious. The duo received investment offers from 3 dragons and agreed a deal with Touker and Tej.
NOVEMBER 2018
NAME CHANGER GAME CHANGER
As our product ranges expand we take the opportunity to unify the brand, unveiling a fresh new look and name. Our circular economy mission is now front and centre: we’re ready for world domination.
JANUARY 2019
NEW YEAR NEW HOME
The brand has far outgrown the siblings parents’ home. It’s time to move out. We leave a trail of coffee footsteps and set up in a railway arch...half office, half warehouse!
MARCH 2019
PITCH-TASTIC
A panel of retail buyers listen to fast-paced pitches from six beauty brands shortlisted from over 60 companies. UpCircle is chosen as a winner! We make plans to roll our products out in hundreds of stores later in the year.
APRIL 2019
SCOOPING UP AWARDS
We now have more than 10 brand awards and product-specific awards from more than 50% of the range - buzzingggg!
FEBRUARY 2022
UPCIRCLE STATESIDE
Anna and Will flew to San Francisco to help spread the UpCircle story, weeks before borders began to close. UpCircle is available in America via Whole Foods and Credo Beauty - yessss!
APRIL-JUNE 2020
NEW HURDLES NEW HURDLERS
As we navigate the many challenges that 2020 throws at us, we decide to bring in some new team members to assist! All via Zoom interviews we grow from a team of three to a team of eight between April and June.
NOVEMBER 2021
BROADENING HORIZONS
We release THREE brand new products AND moved our Scrubs to glass jars! Chaotic, but worth it. We also broadened the team again by welcoming a new marketing team member and another pair of hands at our main warehouse.
FEBRUARY 2022
CERTIFICATIONS GALORE
We become Leaping Bunny approved as cruelty-free and certified Plastic Negative. This means that we remove more plastic waste from the environment than we create in our packaging and operations.
