Behind The Scenes From West End Stage to Start-up Success: The AKT London Story

From West End Stage to Start-up Success: The AKT London Story

Two West End musical performers had a sweaty problem and a big idea. Ed Currie and Andy Coxon spent years under bright stage lights, frustrated by the lack of a deodorant that could keep up with their intense schedules. Instead of accepting the status quo, they took the inspiring leap from stage to startup. The result is AKT London, an award-winning natural deodorant brand that’s as much about personal passion as it is about practical problem-solving.

This is the story of their founder journey — from kitchen experiments to Kickstarter triumph, and onward to a thriving business — highlighting the challenges they faced, how they built their brand, and how smart funding played a part in their success.

From Stage Lights to a Bright Idea

Ed and Andy met as castmates in London’s West End, performing eight shows a week in Beautiful – The Carole King Musical. Night after night, heavy costumes and hot lights meant serious sweating, and no natural deodorant on the market seemed to do the trick.

“We didn’t set out to make a company; we set out to make something that would work, because if they can put a man on the moon, there can be a deodorant that will work,” quips Coxon.

That moment — born from a very real everyday problem — sparked the idea for AKT. In spring 2020, as theatre stages went dark during the pandemic, the two friends decided to bring their passion project to life.

Three Years in the Making

Turning that backstage problem into a product wasn’t an overnight task. Ed started formulating a natural deodorant balm years earlier. With only high-school biology and what he called “determined naivety,” he spent three years mixing botanical ingredients on his kitchen stovetop.

“It was never intended to be a business, I just wanted to solve my own problem,” Ed says.

By 2020, they finally had a formula that was both effective and clean, and people who tried it loved it. That was the moment Ed and Andy realised their homemade solution could become a business.

Taking the Leap to Entrepreneurship

When COVID-19 paused live performances, Ed and Andy focused on AKT full-time. But like many first-time founders, they hit a major hurdle early on: funding.

“We didn’t have any money to start a company, we’re actors!” Ed recalls. A mentor estimated they’d need £15,000 just to get started.

With no savings and limited access to traditional loans, they launched a Kickstarter campaign. It was a leap of faith — but a strategic one.

A Community-Powered Launch

Andy had an idea: leverage their theatre network. They made 1,000 deodorant samples and personally delivered them to stage doors across the West End.

The campaign went live — and hit its target within one hour.

By the end, they’d raised over £50,000. Their backstage community had become their first fans, advocates and customers.

“Everyone talks about building communities… That’s where we have succeeded the most, because people are invested in our story and us,” Andy says.

Building the Brand “Born to Perform”

At first, Ed and Andy avoided linking the brand too directly to their acting roots. But when a trademark issue forced a rebrand, they embraced it.

AKT is a nod to “act”, and their tagline “Born to Perform” references their stage-tested formula. Product scent names like “After Thunder” and packaging that mimics theatrical design all point to their creative DNA.

“We now have a brand that we love and that represents us,” says Ed.

Bootstrapping to Business Growth

From natural ingredients to plastic-free packaging and a premium brass applicator, AKT’s product experience is distinct. That, paired with glowing reviews, helped AKT take off.

Vogue UK named it the #1 deodorant. GQ called it “one of the best deodorants of all time.”

In 2021, they raised £1.5M to scale. In 2024, they secured $10M to expand to new markets. Over 500,000 units sold, 8,000+ five-star reviews, and 21 industry awards later — the growth speaks for itself.

Inspiring Lessons

AKT’s story proves you don’t need to be a business expert to start a business. You need a problem worth solving, a community to rally around it, and the persistence to keep going when things get hard.

It also shows how smart, timely funding — whether through crowdfunding or start-up loans — can be the thing that turns an idea into a reality.

Find out more about getting a Start Up Loan from Virgin StartUp here.