One to Zero: cleaning house and breaking rules

After spending most of the last decade focussed on venture investments, I decided last year when setting up No Brand that our initial focus would be mainly centred around investing in funds and co-investing. Occasionally we would co-found companies, and we would have a strong focus on helping founders to create value and increase their financial security with FounderCo. 

Angel investing wasn’t on the list. Then I met Mike Smith, founder of ZeroCo and I broke my rules.

I first heard about ZeroCo through FounderCo as the team was researching DTC companies in Australia. I checked out their site. At first glance, it looked good. Great branding, interesting product selection, novel business model.

Cleaning products aren’t the first thought when thinking about a category for a startup. Most people would assume the category is hyper-competitive, old and boring, dominated by conglomerates like P&G, Unilever and Colgate-Palmolive. 

ZeroCo reminded me of other great DTC companies. They have a community led approach, a strong purpose and have developed their own products from scratch. 

On my first call with Mike, I went through my high-level checklist:

• Market: large enough now or in the future for a venture-style return

• Team: strong team with domain expertise, open to learning and growing

• Traction: early signs of product market fit, great engagement metrics, potential to scale

ZeroCo passed with flying colours. Mike is an intelligent, experienced and humble founder. ZeroCo’s metrics are better than most venture backed companies at an equivalent stage. There were no obvious showstoppers.

Next step, we bought the starter kit as part of our product due diligence process. I had two young analysts assist me. My two young daughters unboxed the starter kit, took selfies with the colourful cleaning products and then proceeded to fill up the reusable containers and place them down across various  places around the house.

When they washed their hands with the ZeroCo handwash, “Dad, it smells so good” was the recurring comment. I think they washed their hands more the following week than they had in the previous month. 

When I explained to them that ZeroCo’s products were not only great but also helped by taking plastics out of the ocean, they were both sold. 

We then ran a more comprehensive due diligence process and the No Brand team put together our investment paper. I’m delighted to share that we are now investors in ZeroCo and are keen to play our part to help untrash the planet. 

We’re thrilled to be on the journey with Mike and team, together with our friends at Skip Capital and Athletic Ventures.