Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) said it led a £26 million investment into LoveCrafts, the creator of online crafts communities with millions of users worldwide.

Existing investors Balderton and Highland Europe also participated.

“LoveCrafts’ mix of content, commerce and community enables makers and designers to find inspiration, plan projects, buy supplies and share creations with a fast-growing community of like-minded crafters across the world,” said SEP.

“The company has enjoyed four years of strong and steady growth and revenue continues to double year on year, supported by a 150 strong team.

“Funding will enable additional investment in the technology platform and allow operations to scale with the launch of further crafting sites and a continued focus on international expansion.”

Stuart Paterson, partner at SEP said: “Crafting is the world’s largest hobby. LoveCrafts has built an impressive, scalable, digital community-based platform targeting an international market worth $100 billion per annum.

“It has a large and rapidly growing customer base in the UK and US, and our investment will enable further expansion across Europe and Australasia, reinforcing the company’s position as the end to end destination for crafting enthusiasts across the globe.”

Edward Griffith, founder at LoveCrafts said: “It’s always been our goal to connect makers, designers and creatives across the world in a social and accessible way, and this investment will help us to do this in more markets, with greater scale and better tools.

“We are delighted that SEP, together with our current backers, share our vision for the business, and confidence in its future.”