The Cauldron is a technology-led entertainment studio that aims to deliver immersive experiences to its guests by combining technology with food and drink. Upon entering the company's venues, guests are given a magic wand, which acts as a control device for their visit. It helps them pour pints, activate lights and locks, explore science experiments, and stir cocktails. The device is also programmed to act as an open bar tab to track user spending. The Cauldron has served 1 million potions till date, welcomed 260,000+ guests and built a mailing list of over 72,000 subscribers. The company has featured in publications like Thrillist, NBC, Forbes, and Edinburgh News. The Cauldron will use 40% of the investment to open a central-London Cauldron flagship and provide additions to its Wands & Wizard Exploratorium, a new five-floor venue on Greek Street in the very heart of London’s Soho, 40% to grow its retail technology, and 20% to pay staff salaries.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£364,143
Gunna Drinks is a company that manufactures and sells craft soft drinks, consisting of natural juices with less than 5% sugar and no artificial colours or flavours. They have outshone established competitors like Gingerella, Fentimans & FeverTree in taste tests, and its recipes draw inspiration from around the world. Gunna is stocked in major supermarkets and convenience stores across the UK such as Co-op, Sainsbury’s, Amazon, Ocado, and JD Wetherspoon. Gunna Drinks has experienced 85% revenue growth in 2019 and was overfunded by 78% in its last crowdfunding round. The company will utilise the investment to boost consumer marketing to drive rapid revenue growth and develop new products and flavours.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£274,880
Fancy Dress Worldwide is a fancy dress online retailer founded in March 2016 and has already achieved more than 380,000 orders in 80 countries, with revenues over £1.6m in Year 2 and growing rapidly. The company carries out software processes in-house and has grown from 1 staff member to 25. They have also increased their product range from 1 item to 20,000 products, which has resulted in moving to larger premises twice in two years.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£313,557
Hawkens Gingerbread is a bakery that makes gingerbread products that are diverse, rich in heritage, delicious, and high in quality. It has spent three years in a start-up phase and now targets a three-year phase of stage one growth. Currently, its facility can bake up to 80,000 units of gingerbread each month. Since 2017, it is consistently producing a 65% average gross profit margin across its B2C and B2B markets. This company has been growing for three years, and in the financial year 2019, its revenue grew 108% to £43k (£25k profit). Its online sales are displaying a strong flow in the upwards direction. Fund raised will enable it to get in front of a much wider audience and bring the necessary skills into the business.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£67,110
Cadello is a newly produced category-defining unique spirit produced by Distilleria Pisoni, a 150-year-old distillery in Italy. It is growing its distributors over the UK as well as Italy. The company has also partnered with Honest Grapes and other independent marketers and sales teams. Cadello has hired Italian and UK Brand Ambassadors and engaged Pegasus Spirits as UK importer and brand manager. The company will support its continued fast-paced growth by investing into its marketing and sales through tradeshows & tasting events, Brand Ambassadors, PR (editorial and events), social media & advertising, and bartending competitions.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£275,490
Bird and Blend Tea (BABT) is a British independent tea mixologist. The company claims to offer 100+ blends of tea in a vegan-friendly product range, employs 125+ people and runs a global e-commerce platform attracting 100,000 monthly users. It claims to have achieved a £3.97 million turnover in 2020-2021 despite lockdown closures of its retail stores. BABT asserts that it operates 13 experiential retail stores across the UK since its last crowdfund in 2017. It has also featured in press entities such as The Independent, OK!, Huff Post, The Telegraph, and GQ Magazine. The company states it will use the investment to expedite the growth of its brand with investments in digital innovation, develop its technology stack, strengthen its team, open more multisensory stores, and undertake impactful projects to achieve B Corp status.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£999,867
The Brook is a plant-based food business that has been making plant-based eating accessible and enjoyable for a flexitarian, environmentally-conscious generation. The company has raised over £400,000 to date and, has launched an eCommerce platform that allows customers to avail ‘build-a-box’ subscriptions as well as single purchases. The company saw its online orders increasing by nine times during the COVID-19 lockdown. It was shortlisted at the Future Food Awards 2019, Great British Food Awards 2019, and World Food Innovation Awards 2019, to name a few. It has also secured listings with retail partners such as Co-op, Dobbie’s, and Fenwick. The company has appeared in publications like the Independent, Metro and The Times. The Brook will use 40% of the investment to hire staff, 40% to promote marketing, and 20% to accelerate web development.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£359,830
East London Liquor Company (ELLC) has been distilling, importing and serving gins, whiskies, vodkas, rums, and canned cocktails since 2014. ELLC asserts that off-trade gin sales hit US$8.4 billion in 2020 with UK seltzer sales expected to reach £75 million by 2023. It intends to become a contender in the aforementioned categories. ELLC has had a 600% Year-on-Year (YoY) increase to £206,000 in off-trade sales from 2019-2020 to 2020-2021. The company has partnered with the UNESCO world heritage site, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, to release its product, Kew Gin. It has also entered into the Ready-To-Drink and seltzer categories with its range of canned drinks, and onboarded retailers like Waitrose, Tesco, and Co-Op. The company will use the investment to grow its off-trade channels both in the UK and abroad, expand its Direct To Consumer (DTC) output, update its 'Brand Home' to attract more customers, and increase its whisky production to meet demand.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£921,686
The Wine List (WL) gives confidence to wine lovers through a home wine course. The company argues that 20% of the UK's wine drinkers fall into a cohort that is actively engaged, spend at the higher end of the market, and frequently drink from a variety of sources. But less than 20,000 people don't have the requisite knowledge about different wine styles and tastes. WL aims to change this scenario by offering a home wine course to customers where alongside their wine lessons, they also get two bottles of wine to practice their skills on. The company has shipped 20,000+ bottles of wine and witnessed revenues of £298,000 in April-October 2020. WL is also building a digital content platform that will offer best in class video lessons, with learning quizzes to reinforce knowledge. The company has featured in Metro, Evening Standard, and Courier. It will use the investment to increase content production, wine delivery and scale into 2021.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£505,494
Almond provides businesses and consumers with a method to understand their carbon footprint and use the company's proprietary offset tools to become carbon neutral. Consumers can earn Almond Tokens when purchasing products from Almond's partnering sustainable brands. The Almond Tokens can be spent on their website The Almond certification label on products enables them to demonstrate their commitment to protecting the environment, consumer health and building a better society for all. The core idea is to build a market that's geared towards sourcing and selling sustainable products. The green economy market is worth $4 trillion. The offset market was $300 million in 2018, having grown over 140-fold in 10 years. Almond seeks to be a market leader in this domain. It has also partnered with reputed institutions such as the World Wildlife Fund, and the Stockholm Environment Institute (carbon analytics). With the investment, the company aims to further the popularity of its existing Almond App and have more people join its ecosystem.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£522,540
