Carmimari

Idea

Introduction

Carmimari is a Premium, made in Italy and legendary brand in the discipline of Fencing. Founded in 1938, It has been one of the main actors in modernising the sport, introducing in 1955 the electrical signaling system that's been used nowadays.

Carmimari is famous in the world of Professional Fencing for the light and tailored uniform "Blademaster", used by several Olympic champions and its gloves models line-up.

We took over the brand in 2018, to turn it around, position it as the top of our line-up (being also the founders of ONTC) with the aim to re-engineer and reintroduce these iconic products Worldwide, while re-establishing a pure made in Italy brand.

We take pride in spreading the Italian culture of Fencing world-wide, and to offer to any fencer at any level the right gear for his Challenges!

Intended impact

We believe one of the biggest pain-points in Fencing is distribution and access to product in a reasonable time. This limit has often hindered the development of Fencing as a spread sport, let alone its recognition as one of the highest ranking disciplines around the world.

With Carmimari and its ONTC sub-brand we intend to fix this, by offering two comprhensive product line-ups to any Athlete at any stage of his/her career, for any given budget.

Our mixed approach of traditional bespoke manufacturing and ditigal technologies enalbe us to contribute to turn fencing into a professionalized Organization, the next branding powerhouse.

By lowering access costs to the market, increasing quality when top performance matters and introducing Icon and Heritage concepts for spinoffs in Fashion and Media markets. It also gives us the commitment to carry on the Italian tradition of Premium product production and long-established tradition in Fencing.

Substantial accomplishments to date

+ Introduced fencing to Large Retailers in 2013 (Decathlon until 2015); .
+ Turnover of 300k € in 2018; .
+ Carmimari in breakeven since 2018, ONTC since 2016; .
+ 22 Countries reached by our products, among which Japan, USA, China; .
+ Pioneer of modern fencing in 1955; .
+ Managing all products on internally developed digital platforms; .
+ Certified Innovative Company by the Official Italian Policy on Startups; .
+ Sponsors to several high-ranking Athletes in differeny National Teams, from Italy to Europe and Abroad; .
+ Featuring one of the lighest Fencing uniform in the market, 100% made in Italy;.

Monetisation strategy

We make money in three different areas:

- selling fencing gear: under the two brands: ONTC (positioned on the entry-level segment) and Carmimari (positioned on the high-end), with an average median mark-up of 86%. This business area currently accounts for most of our revenue and where most of our effort is right now. (Revenue in 2018: € 300 K)

- selling services: in the form of organising competitions, providing consulting services to clubs, as well as logistics and media services. This is currently a minor revenue stream, but we believe it holds the promise to be a fast growing field, particularly given the general growth in the number of fencers worldwide and the rising media interest in fencing.

- Fashion spinoff: currently a prototype idea, we strongly believe in the potential of this business area, based on Carmimari's story and heritage. We are developing a capsule collection of fashion accessories making Carmimari into an iconic brand not only in the world of fencing but also beyond it, like other brands (ex. Lacoste, Fred Perry) did with other sports.

Use of proceeds

• Research, certifications and prototypes (introducing evolutions and upgrades on 1/3 of our products line-up) = 22/23%
• Investment in inventory = 26%.
• Team (hiring new talents to improve delivery time and quality assurance) = 23%.
• Marketing (organic positioning optimization and booth presence during competitions)= 22%..
• Promoting and opening new distributions = 6%.

Please note there is an outstanding business loan from Ubi Banca. The original total amount of EUR 150,000. The loan is made in cash credit format. It is covered by the government guarantee under the legal incentive framework for Italian Startups. While the guarantee does not expose the company to any risk, we have decided to progressively reduce it and pay it back, through our company revenues. Currently the loan is down to EUR 90,000 EUR. However no funds raised through the campaign will be used to repay this debt, the entire amount being dedicated to the development of the company.