Ep 74: How I raised £1.8M in my first year in business, Josephine Philips founder of SOJO

Description

Josephine Philips is the founder of SOJO, the UK's first on-demand clothing alterations and repairs app. She started SOJO by manually cycling garments across London to validate the idea before raising £1.8M in pre-seed funding (backed by Depop's own founder), landed Forbes 30 Under 30, and opened a permanent concession in Selfridges.In this episode, Josephine gets brutally honest about the real journey: finding a tech co-founder early on,, the hiring mistakes that slowed her down, a six-week fundraising sprint that changed everything, and what it actually means to build with the end in mind.This is a masterclass in doing more with less, moving fast without breaking your team, and why representation in VC funding is still one of the most urgent conversations in entrepreneurship.What we cover:Finding a tech co-founder as a non-technical founderNavigating the fashion space outside of fast fashionFinding a niche in a typically crowded spaceThe timings and strategy of raising investmentThe stats around investment for Black WomenHiring and growing a team for your business, not following the status quoHow to build a B2B strategy without losing focusHow to SOJO x Selfridges Partnership happened The honest truth about representation in VCIf you're building something new or struggling to articulate why your idea matters, this one's for you.We Are Ladies Who Launch! CHAPTERS00:00 Meet Josephine, Sojo Founder03:17 The Tailoring Niche07:48 The Problem with Fast Fashion13:52 Validating The Business Idea16:59 Finding A Tech Co-Founder22:24 Launch Traction And Press23:40 Funding And Getting Investment29:48 Hiring Growing Pains33:01 Corporate vs Startup Hiring34:19 The Right Time For Funding 35:24 More Team Slower Progress37:09 Focussing On Your B2B Strategy38:11 Where Is Sojo Today?39:16 Hiring for Complementary Skills41:36 Testing Agility in Interviews43:43 Representation in VC Funding47:53 6-Week Fundraising Sprint50:57 Selfridges Partnership Breakdown54:49 Global Expansion Plans01:00:33 Build With the End in Mind🔔 New episode