Swingers has closed on $52m (£40m) round of funding to expand its mini golf concept, including a 40,000-square-foot flagship venue in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
Founded as a pop-up in London, parent company Competitive Socialising now operates five locations – two each in London and Washington D.C. as well as one in New York.
Cain International, a real estate investment firm that provided Swingers with an initial $20m in 2018, led the latest Series-C funding, which includes a number of third party institutional investors.
With the new capital, Swingers is expected to expand to at least 15 locations in 2026, bringing in nearly £115m in annual revenue. Co-founder Matt Grech-Smith said the company expects to turn over £42m this year.
“These venues have shown that people love to socialize when there’s competitive activity involved and it’s a theatrical and immersive venue,” Grech-Smith told Forbes. “So, taking our investors along for the ride has definitely been straightforward. They can see the demand and they can see the potential or the places that the Swingers brand could go.”
The Las Vegas venue is scheduled to open in 2024, turning a former nightclub into an expansive English “country house” concept.
The crazy golf courses will be aimed at 21-and-over crowd, with craft cocktails served by caddies, street food, a theatrical setting, and DJs every night.
“It’s going to be something along the lines of which Vegas has never seen before,” said Grech-Smith.
“You know what it’s like when you’re in Vegas — there’s lots of gambling, there’s lots of eating and drinking to do, and you can go lie by the pool. But there’s definitely a shortage of fun activities. We think Swingers is going to provide that perfect solution where you can go along take part in this fun activity, have a few drinks, and have some great food as well. Our new kind of country house theme is going to take Swingers to the next level.”
In addition to the Vegas venue, Swingers in 2024 will open its first franchise location in Dubai.
“We found that the pandemic really cemented in people’s minds how much they value social experiences and to be able to go out and do fun things,” said Grech-Smith.
“We’re looking at all of the key markets in the US. They will most likely follow Vegas from ‘25 onwards,” added Grech-Smith, adding that there’s nothing imminent to announce about future locations. “We love to go for cities that have big corporate crowds, a pretty dense population, a good dating scene, a street food scene. Those are sort of some of the criteria make a Swingers city. There’s a huge number of cities in the U.S. that meet those kinds of requirements.”
