Filmore & Union, the independent café and deli chain, has extended its crowdfunding pitch by 45 days and doubled its funding target.
Founder Adele Carnell told M&C the target is now capped at £1m after exceeding the initial target of £500k through Crowdcube.
The decision was made by Carnell after receiving a high level of interest from parties wanting to invest in the Yorkshire-based group.
“We are in talks with a lot of people at the moment who still want to invest, including quite large investors. The interest in us has been phenomenal.”
The company launched a £500k crowdfunding pitch in June with the goal of growing its estate to 30 in the next five years.
The extra funds will be used to accelerate Filmore & Unions expansion targets to expand across the north initially in Yorkshire and Cheshire.
As well as lining up Yorkshire sites in Ilkely, Harrogate and Beverley, Carnell said negotiations are currently underway with landlords for more stores.
“We will be able to move a lot quicker now but we will remain careful about what we invest and the fit-out costs won’t change.”
After a month on Crowdcube Filmore & Union increased the amount of equity being offered in response to demand from major investors who Carnell said were interested in a larger percentage share.
Carnell said: “We’ve not only had support financially in raising our target, but we now have some new board members who are loyal customers of Filmore and will be supporting us in other ways as well as being brand ambassadors. We’ve decided to extend our fundraising period as we’re still getting so much interest so we want to make sure that everyone who wants to has the opportunity to invest in us.”
The pitch currently stands at more than £700k.
