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CORKBRICK EUROPE

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A Lego like system to build any structure, wall or furniture, with no tools, screws, or glue

111%
 - 
Funded 4 Sep 2017
€150,008 target
€196,274 from 232 investors
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Business overview

Location Cascais, Portugal
Social media
Website www.corkbrick.com
Sectors Home & Personal Mixed Digital/Non-Digital B2C
Company number 513223371
Incorporation date 20 Nov 2014
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Investment summary

Type Equity
Valuation (pre-money) €850K
Equity offered 16.40%
Tax relief N/A
  • Idea
  • Market
  • Team
  • Updates
  • Investors 232
  • Discussion
  • Documents

Idea

Introduction

Imagine a Lego like system, where you can build any structure, wall or furniture, inside or outside, with no tools, no screws, no glue - that's CORKBRICK!

It's a solution soon available in the market that empowers creative minds that cannot face DIY solutions. It goes beyond the DIY market to reach all those with a passion and enthusiasm to create unique and innovative solutions in their home and office.

We sell a unique, useful, trendy and sustainable product structured on a simple and highly efficient business to the global consumer.

We believe it has the potential to become the new Lego for adults with the advantage of being fun and useful (and natural).

CORBRICK is an invention of Miguel Reynolds Brandão (father) and Catarina Reynolds Brandão (daughter).

Intended impact

Our mission is to improve people's lives by simplifying the way people create and recreate the spaces they live and work, with clever, natural and sustainable solutions.

We feel that CORKBRICK is a unique system that will change households, office spaces and many other private and public spaces.

- Manufactured in Europe
- It’s ecological, green, reusable and sustainable
- It has the potential to develop new opportunities, such as CORKBRICK accessories
- It can offer indirect job opportunities for skilled and non-skilled labor.

CORKBRICK fits in the trend for natural, flexible, dynamic and sustainable solutions for millennials. It offers a completely new solution to an universal problem – decorating houses, offices or any space.

Substantial accomplishments to date

Apr 12: Idealization of the concept - the genesis of the idea and the first brainstorming.

Jun 12: International market study to discover alternative or similar solutions and confirm inventiveness of CORKBRICK concept. First designs of solutions. Beginning of the trial and error process.

Jul 13: We came up with seven optimised "brock" designs (we call each CORKBRICK a "brock"). Beginning of prototyping.

Sept 14: Patent approved. Beginning of physical testing.

Nov 14: Company Incorporation. José Manuel Durão joins as shareholder and legal adviser; Business model development.

Jan 15: Strategic alliance with (Idea)ology group; marketing study of international market.

Jun 15: International Patent application pending (PCT).

Aug 15: Strategic agreement with NOVACORTIÇA to outsource production.

Dec 15: Jorge Julio joins as shareholder and Industrial Adviser. Strategic alliance with INAUTOM to support us in the industrial process.

Feb 16: Final prototypes built.

Jul 16: Launched simple web-page to explain CORKBRICK.

Sept 16: First orders.

Oct 16: Application for PORTUGAL 2020 grant.

Nov 16: CORKBRICK has been nominated for the 2017 Katerva Award. The Katerva Award has been referred to as the Nobel Prize of Sustainability by Forbes.

Monetisation strategy

CORKBRICK target price is €98 per square meter. The model is very simple and straightforward: just 7 pieces to produce; direct sales; simple production cycle; low stocks; outsource delivery.

We created an efficient value chain with no intermediaries and no financial costs to support our sales growth.

We will be selling directly to our customers by internet for three reasons:
1) because our potential customers buy on internet
2) it increases our competitive advantage
3) The delivery fees are lower competitors due to light weight of Corkbrick.

Nurturing a deep relationship with our customers and awarding their creativity is the main focus of our strategy. It empowers our offer and growth.

Use of proceeds

After finishing R&D to reach the first marketable version of the product, the IP protection, and the introduction to the market, we are now progressing the CORKBRICK concept.

Now we are seeking financial partners to help support our investment in:

1) Building our production facilities - building the press and the molds

2) Develop a full outstanding web presence capable of presenting, promoting (CORKBRICK CONCEPT), create and simulate (CORKBRICK PLAY), selling and deliver (CORKBRICK SHOP) the product anywhere in EU

3) Selective promotion of the concept in public areas in EU

4) Start our digital marketing campaign

5) Employ more team members

Market

Target market

CORKBRICK can be used to build interior and exterior structures in general and furniture in particular. Although it can be seen as a substitute to classic structures and furniture, in reality CORKBRICK will be understood as a new and unique solution to some structures and furniture because of its variable application and dimension. With CORKBRICK the user can assemble and disassemble everything in minutes, with no tools or glues.

It can be used in households, offices, fairs, hotels and public spaces like museums, airports, art galleries, etc. The application is very wide and we believe that our customers will find even more useful and fun applications for the CORKBRICK system.

We aim to reach 0.1% of the total 200m+ EU households in 10 years, starting from Scandinavia, Germany and Holland first, and then expanding to the rest of the EU.

The business market is very attractive too, but this is our secondary market as we aim to create a community of CORKBRICK fans first that will help us later in promoting to the business environment.

CORKBRICK EUROPE will focus only in the EU market to be able to deliver door do door.

The EU furniture market is worth more than €80 billion and the RTA/DIY (Ready To Assembly/ Do It Yourself) segment represents 10% of it, outperforming the furniture sector average in terms of both consumption and production.

We believe that the CORKBRICK concept can overcome most threats and weaknesses identified by a SWOT analysis of the EU furniture market.

Characteristics of target market

Assuming our total potential market is 10% of the total 200m EU households, and that they spend €125, we believe that our total potential market is worth more than €2.5 billion. We will start by addressing the €8 billion RTA/DIY furniture market in the EU.

Representing 24% of the EU population, millennials are our priority target because we believe they are more responsive to the flexibility, dynamics, natural and sustainable characteristics of CORKBRICK. They are also easier to reach by internet.

We will be addressing the needs of millennials looking for a useful, easy, dynamic and natural solution to improve the spaces they live in. Something consistent with their dynamic and moving life-style.

CORKBRICK, besides its flexibility and easy handling, is an excellent soundproofing and thermal isolation solution that offers unique applications other solutions can't match.

We believe millennials are used to purchasing and researching on internet and are therefore easier to engage. After the initial penetration we plan to reach the X generation, using the millennials influence.

CORKBRICK lends itself to the consumer culture that seeks creative, easy to assemble and flexible interior design and furnishing options. We believe it appeals to those consumers who simply want simple, affordable and durable home solutions that do not require even basic assembly skills.

Marketing strategy

Our objective is to inspire creativity and engage our customers with the CORKBRICK concept. We believe that by engaging and rewarding our customers and fans, we will be able to grow together, developing a transparent, fair and sustainable business.

In order to create and nurture a close relationship with our customers we will focus on a direct marketing strategy, benefiting from two facts:

1) Our target customers are used to purchasing over the internet
2) The cost of delivering CORKBRICK from our factory in Portugal to anywhere in the EU is relatively low due to the light weight material. Therefore, we feel we don't need intermediaries to sell.

Geographically, we will start by focusing in Northern Europe as we believe that CORKBRICK's usefulness and uniqueness is better recognised in these markets. We will then spread to other countries.

We will begin by focusing directly on millennials' households, people already interested in DIY, Lego, design, architecture, sustainability and innovative solutions, reaching them directly through internet and social media in particular.

To engage our users and fans, we intend to launch the 'CORKBRICK COMMUNITY MARKETPLACE', a crowd sourced gamified collaborative design and build program for expanding our CORKBRICK construction component system.

This would allow "corkies" to expand our line of product sets while allowing them to make money on their ideas. Think of it as a community based open sourced design culture. Corkies will use CORKBRICK PLAY to create and design a personalised CORKBRICK solution such as shelves, beds, tables, chairs, and will be rewarded every time a customer orders a CORKBRICK set they created.

In parallel, we intend to promote our concept and "way of life" producing creative presentations in public spaces like museums, art galleries, airports and other non-obvious places to surprise the audience and get media attention.

Competition strategy

There are many European companies operating on the RTA/DIY market – but to our knowledge, none offer similar concept to CORKBRICK. We believe that none offer the simplicity, flexibility, dynamics, natural, durability, sound and temperature insulation characteristics that CORKBRICK offers. Everblock, IKEA, 3 B, Alsapan, Argos, Arte M, Bauwens, Burstadt Furniture, Composad, Schmal, Decorative Panels Furniture are among the most relevant competitors. They all sell RTA furniture and some offer interior structures too, but still rely on classic assemblies and big showrooms to expose and sell their products.

We will centre our competition strategy on three pillars:
1) an intimate, fair and mutual rewarding relationship with our customers (CORKBRICK CLUB MEMBERS)
2) an efficient value chain and direct sales
3) an aggressive and fair pricing that will position CORKBRICK as the best value to our customers

CORKBRICK will differentiate by nurturing a close and dynamic relationship with its customers. CORKBRICK offer unique characteristics ideal to a "club" mindset - Like Lego fan club but for adults and for real- The CORKBRICK CLUB.

To instil and reward creativity from our fans, we will allow any customer to create and share CORKBRICK applications and setups through our web platform, using a special virtual reality software - CORKBRICK PLAY.

CORKBRICK PLAY will allow any user to build with CORKBRICK in any environment (at scale) with their PC or smartphones. Users can use CORKBRICK PLAY to create and order or just to create and share. We will reward all creations shared by CORKBRICK PLAY users that are bought by customers.

We plan an aggressive pricing strategy, with our product 10-25% less expensive than our competitors due to the efficiency of our value chain.

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This campaign for CORKBRICK EUROPE has been approved by Seedrs Limited (trading as Republic Europe) ("Republic Europe", "us" or "we"), as of 2 March 2017 as a financial promotion. Republic Europe is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority with firm reference number 550317. In approving this campaign, Republic Europe has concluded that the information, taken as a whole, is "fair, clear and not misleading." This means that for factual statements we have reviewed evidence of their accuracy, and that for aspirational statements we believe they are phrased appropriately in light of their speculative nature. You should note that in the case of factual statements, the evidence we review is provided by the business, and we do not audit it, which means that we may not be able to identify forged or altered evidence. You should further note that in the case of aspirational statements, the nature of the type of businesses presented on the Republic Europe platform is such that they are likely to have high ambitions, and we may approve statements that convey those ambitions even where we do not believe, or we do not have a view on whether it is likely, that they will be fully realised. The pre-money valuation and investment sought in the campaign are those set by the business: they are not reviewed or established by us, and the valuation is not an independent view of what the business is worth. Given the nature and type of businesses presented on the Republic Europe platform, it is possible that the business has very little cash remaining prior to receiving this investment, and the investment sought may be necessary for the business's on-going existence.

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Tax Relief (SEIS)

This business is eligible for SEIS relief - providing qualifying investors with income tax relief of 50% of their investment and certain other tax reliefs. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and is subject to change in future. Click to learn more.

Tax Relief (EIS)

This business is eligible for EIS relief - providing qualifying investors with income tax relief of 30% of their investment and certain other tax reliefs. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and is subject to change in future. Click to learn more.

Valuation (pre-money)

Valuation rounded from €850,000

This is the fully-diluted pre-money valuation of the business (i.e. before the new investment comes in and including issued options and other equity interests). In contrast, the post-money valuation is based on inclusion of the new investment in the value.

It is calculated as the pre-money valuation plus the amount of new investment. e.g. If Company A is ascribed a pre-money valuation of £1,200,000 by prospective investors investing £300,000, its post-money valuation is £1,500,000.

The investee business is responsible for setting its own valuation, it has not been prescribed by Seedrs.

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When the amount raised is less than 100%, the equity offered is based on the target raise. Once the company has raised over 100% it is based on the total raised.

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