The Daisy Green Collection, the all-day restaurant, bar and coffee group, is over-funding by 190% in its £500,000 crowdfunding pitch to fund a planned doubling of its estate in the next four years.
The Crowdcube page officially went live yesterday but the group already has £955,000 pledged by 146 investors.
Co-founder Prue Freeman told MCA that around half of the investors in the group’s 2015 mini-bond had reinvested. The £775,000 raised at that point was repaid at the end of last year, thanks to a £3.25m refinancing by OakNorth. The package also funded the opening of the group’s 9th site, Scarlett Green, in Soho this year and there is c£1m of remaining capital available from Oaknorth for further growth.
The business plan sets out growth to 17 sites by 2022 with target locations including South Kensington, Canary Wharf, Liverpool Street, Chelsea, Covent Garden, Clapham and Fulham. The plan envisages revenue of £25m+ at that point with site EBITDA of c£5.1m
Freeman told MCA she was not looking outside the capital for the moment and that any growth into the regions would begin with commuter belts.
The fund offers 4.7% equity in the company, valuing it at £18m. An exit would be sought within five years.
The campaign offers a variety of niceties, ranging from a free flat white for a £10 investment and for £10,000 a ‘Black Card’ entitling the investor to free coffee everyday as well as five brunches and four dinners. Top tier investors also have the chance to win a pair of business class flights to Bondi (Sydney).
On the choice to go down the crowdfunding route, Freeman told MCA: “We have had quite a bit of interest from private equity over the past year and we thought long and hard about that. Ultimately we felt that at this stage, as 100% owners of the business, we didn’t want to have the level of outside involvement that private equity brings.
“We also really liked the element of interaction with our customers that crowdfunding brings.”
Freeman said that the group would look to strengthen its head office team following the crowdfund, with a chief financial officer likely to be one of the first key hires.
Onions added: “We are looking forward to holding a big party to celebrate – and find out who will win the business class trip to Bondi.”
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