Making it Work

The company is supported by Enterprise Ireland and Landa said the agency had provided the business with significant support

Landa, a Dublin-based accessories business, aims to raise €500,000 in a funding round later this year to support its growth.

Landa was founded by spouses Silvana Landa and Andrew McAdam in 2018. The business has three staff and expects revenue of €1 million this year.

“We are an accessories brand primarily focused on handbags for women, but we have bags for men. We did one last year with Magee that was a great success. It’s at a sweet price point where we’re not at the top but we’re not high street,” Landa told the Business Post.

“We want to tick all the boxes. Our products are sustainable, hand-crafted and really well made. I feel really passionate about it because every piece is finished to perfection.”

Landa is Argentinian-Italian and moved to Ireland 24 years ago, with the mutual heritage between Ireland and Argentina inspiring her to make the move.

“I found a lot of connections between Argentina and Ireland so it was interesting to me. I initially only planned to spend a couple of years here but I really found my way professionally,” she said.

It was her work in the multinational beauty and fashion industry that inspired Landa to start the business.

“It started as a focus on work bags. I worked for a lot of multinationals, launching new brands. I travelled a lot and I could not find the product that I wanted. For overnight trips, I wanted something pretty but functional,” she said.

“On a trip to Stockholm, I drafted the idea on a piece of paper. My grandfather was a cobbler and I grew up watching him work with leather. I thought, what if instead of making shoes I made bags.”

The road to success involved a lot of hard work for Landa and McAdam, developing the brand along the way.

“We hit six years in October and it was a life-changing year. People say to hang in for five years in a business and there’s a reason for that. We’ve grown 40 per cent year on year with each year,” she said.

“The growth in the number of products sold along with the revenue and the number of markets reached has been substantial. Last year, we went product crazy, developing more new products, and it had a big impact.”

The company is supported by Enterprise Ireland and Landa said the agency had provided the business with significant support.

“They have been incredible. We have worked closely with their international teams for many years. They have provided us with introductions and set up face-to-face meetings that helped us get stocked in retailers,” she said.

“It has been great to work with them outside of Ireland, doing market visits. We are reaching new markets through them.”

With expected revenue of €1 million this year, Landa plans to raise €500,000 in funding to help boost that international growth.

“To grow, we need to grow the number of units we sell. We want to keep growing the market base so that we have a global appeal. From day one, the mission has been to be a go-to brand globally.”

This Making it Work article was produced in partnership with Enterprise Ireland.