History

Mo Bro's was established in December 2014 by brothers Keval Dattani, Kunal Dattani and Savan Dattani. The inspiration for the venture came during November 2014, when each of the brothers participated in the annual Movember event with the aim of growing facial hair to raise awareness and donations for men's mental health charity, The Movember Foundation. After struggling with facial hair irritation throughout the challenge, the Dattanis discovered a shortage of suitable beard and moustache products and a gap in the market for a new brand to produce them.

Mo Bro's began with an initial investment of £750, achieved with £250 from each of the Dattani brothers. The investment was used to purchase ingredients for moustache wax, a wax melting machine and wax tins for retail. The Mo Bro's brand logo was designed by the brothers using Microsoft Paint.

Mo Bro's sold its first batch of moustache wax on eBay in December 2014, selling all 30 tins in a single day. The Dattanis invested all money made from the sale of its moustache wax back into the business, allowing them to expand the product line to include butters, balms, oils, shampoos and conditioners.

In 2015, the company moved from a home set-up to a dedicated office in Leicester and began outsourcing product manufacturing to a centre in Yorkshire. This coincided with the launch of Mo Bro's products on Amazon and the creation of a company website and online store in July of 2015.

On December 26th 2017, the Dattanis appeared on the BBC show Dragon's Den in a bid to secure investment for Mo Bro's. The brothers asked for an investment of £150,000 in return for a 5% equity stake in the business. After delivering their pitch, the brothers received offers from Deborah Meaden, Tej Lalvani, Peter Jones CBE and Jenny Campbell before accepting joint investment from Tej Lalvani and Peter Jones of £75,000 and 10% of the company each.

The appearance of Dragon's Den saw the company achieve mainstream recognition and press coverage in The Telegraph, Leicester Mercury, The Express and BBC Radio.

As of October 2018, Mo Bro's products are sold in over 78 countries to a customer base of more than 300,000. The company also has partnerships with ASOS, Debenhams, Next, British Airways, Menkind, Thomas Cook, Virgin Atlantic, Oman Air, KLM, Etihad Airways and Harding Retail.

The brand is also partnered with Amazon, featuring in the marketplace's UK ad campaigns, and with PayPal and the Department for International Trade (DIT).

Products

Mo Bro's produces beard oil, beard balm, beard butter, moustache wax, beard conditioners, beard washes and beard soaps. The brand also offers combs, brushes, razors, scissors, beard shaping tools, hair catchers and towels.

Since its formation, Mo Bro's has been committed to using natural ingredients in its products, with hair products often containing shea butter, beeswax, goat's milk and jojoba oils.

Awards and recognition

Mo Bro's has received a number of business awards and nominations for its entrepreneurship and work in retail. In April 2018, the company was awarded 'Retailer of the Year' at the Leicester Mercury Business Awards. This success was followed by an Opal Awards 2018 nomination. Following a successful pitch, Mo Bro's reached the finals of Virgin Media Business VOOM 2018, placing as runner-up in the PayPal International Award category.

In October 2018, Mo Bro's was listed as a finalist for Family Run Business of the Year at The London Asian Business Awards. The company was also nominated for a Love Recycling Award for reducing its carbon footprint and named as a finalist in the Young Entrepreneur of the Year category at the 2018 Leicester Mercury Business Executive of the Year Awards.