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Square Mile Farms

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Bringing vertical, urban farming to the modern workplace

251%
 - 
Funded 6 Aug 2020
£200,010 target
£504,118 from 891 investors
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Business overview

Location London, United Kingdom
Social media
Website www.squaremilefarms.com
Sectors Property Mixed Digital/Non-Digital Mixed B2B/B2C
Company number 11628016
Incorporation date 17 Oct 2018
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Investment summary

Type Equity
Valuation (pre-money) £2.1M
Equity offered 19.34%
Tax relief

EIS

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Business highlights

  • Early customers include Grosvenor Estates and Vodafone
  • Strategic relationship with British Land Plc
  • Featured on BBC Inside Out London & BBC Radio
  • Operational vertical farm in Paddington Central
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Key features

  • Secondary Market
  • Nominee investment min. £10.36 +
  • Idea
  • Key Information
  • Team
  • Updates
  • Investors 891
  • Discussion
  • Documents

Idea

Introduction

We install innovative, productive vertical farms in the workplace, engage employees and help businesses create a culture of healthy, low-impact living.

With employee wellbeing and corporate sustainability at the top of the post-COVID agenda, large employers are rethinking the function, layout and appearance of the workplace.

Our Office Farming model creates green, inviting spaces for engagement and collaboration, helping attract talent back into the office, and visibly demonstrate commitment to sustainability, and employee health.

In 2019 we were invited to build a vertical farm in Paddington Central by British Land, one of the UK’s largest landowners, which now acts as a hub for our office farm installations, as well as a base from which to conduct R&D.

We continue to work closely with British Land, offering our services to their occupiers. We already count Vodafone and Grosvenor Estates as clients and have an exciting pipeline in London and beyond.

Substantial accomplishments to date

February 2019

- Constructed our first ‘flat-pack farm’ of our own design.

May 2019

- Began experimenting with growing more than 40 plant varieties vertically, indoors, from micro-herbs to large leafy greens, researching production costs, gathering growing data and experimenting with business models.
- Invited by British Land Plc (FTSE 100 & one of the UK’s largest landlords) to build a farm on the roof of Microsoft’s UK HQ in Paddington Central.
- Used the profile and location to gather customer feedback, both consumer and corporate, from which we developed our Office Farming model.
- Agreed with British Land to jointly approach their large corporate occupiers as a solution to their workplace wellbeing and sustainability needs.

August 2019

- Began supplying 3 restaurants with fresh, local produce & started trialling our consumer veg bags & lobby stall

Late 2019

- Secured our first 2 corporate clients in Grosvenor Estate and Vodafone.
Ongoing conversations with a number of other well-known corporate names and now have a rich Business Development pipeline.
- Started to explore new locations for expansion across British Land's London campuses, including Broadgate.

Early 2020

- Combined forces with Yeeld, a pioneering vertical microgreen grower, to strengthen our founding team.
- Square Mile Farms was the subject of a BBC London Inside Out documentary titled “Office Farming”. Also filmed for a piece in the FT ‒ we expect it to be released in July/August.

Monetisation strategy

Our Office Farming model takes advantage of existing corporate demand & budgets (e.g. workplace fit-outs, employee wellbeing & engagement).

Key customer profiles: facilities managers & HR/wellbeing managers.

Channels to market: landlords, office designers & property consultants.

Key revenue streams:

1. Farm installation. Developing custom installations for clients, based on our modular design.

2. Farm servicing & employee engagement. A monthly service charge to run farms & engage employees in the process.

3. Wellbeing services. Packages of workshops, seminars, nutritional consultations & other events.

Based on the combined market size for corporate wellbeing services & office landscaping, we estimate the market for office farming services in London to be £143m and the UK £621m.

A presence in the workplace is our first step to creating consumer awareness and brand familiarity, from which we intend to launch consumer products & services in the future.

Use of proceeds

Proceeds of this campaign will be used alongside revenue to fund the following activities over the next year:

1. Sales & Business Development ‒ 45%
The raise will help us complete several upcoming projects & secure recurring income that will be reinvested in the business.
2-3 key new hires to grow the team & scale the business.

2. Technology & R&D ‒ 15%
We’ll invest in the design & technology for our farm-walls & hub farms to ensure it is the product of choice for building integrated farming
Continually improving our technology & growing techniques will ensure we further differentiate ourselves and support our value proposition.

3. Brand & Profile ‒ 15%
We intend to raise our profile & increase brand awareness through selective marketing, PR and attendance at relevant events.

4. Operations - 25%
A percentage of the raise may be used to fund short-term operations to give us enough runway to grow comfortably & sustainably. However, we expect most of these costs to be covered by revenue.

Key Information

Director’s Loans

The company has the following outstanding loans:

- £34,592 Director’s loan with no interest rate. The loan is to be repaid at the Board's discretion with the intention of repaying this loan when the business is profitable.

- £32,892 Director’s loan with no interest rate. The loan is to be repaid at the Board's discretion with the intention of repaying this loan when the business is profitable.

- £8,000 bounce-back loan, with a 2.5% interest rate to be paid back over 6 years. The first 12 months of the loan are interest free, with the 2.5% interest rate kicking in from Year 2 onwards. The loan was approved 27 May 2020.

The funds raised from this investment round will not be used to repay these loans.

Founders Salary Conversion

Two of the Founders have agreed to accept a reduction on their agreed contracted salary on the basis the difference between their contracted salary and paid salary will accrue to these Founders and be paid in the form of equity at the agreed share price at the next funding round. The reduction took effect in April 2020 and the intention is that the Founders’ contracted salary will be reinstated from the end of this funding round. The third founder does not take a salary.

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If you successfully purchase a share lot of this business, you will be granted access.

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Only shareholders can access this page

If you successfully purchase a share lot of this business, you will be granted access.

Buy shares

Only shareholders can access this page

If you successfully purchase a share lot of this business, you will be granted access.

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Investing involves risks, including loss of capital, illiquidity, lack of dividends and dilution, and should be done only as part of a diversified portfolio. Please read the Risk Warnings before investing. Investments should only be made by investors who understand these risks. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and is subject to change in future.

This campaign for Square Mile Farms has been approved by Seedrs Limited (trading as Republic Europe) ("Republic Europe", "us" or "we"), as of 18 June 2020 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.

Republic Europe does not make investment recommendations to you. No communications from Republic Europe, through this website or any other medium, should be construed as an investment recommendation. Further, nothing on this website shall be considered an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security to any person in any jurisdiction to whom or in which such offer, solicitation or sale is unlawful. Republic Europe does not provide legal, financial or tax advice of any kind. If you have any questions with respect to legal, financial or tax matters relevant to your interactions with Republic Europe, you should consult a professional adviser.

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 £2,100,118

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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Equity Offered

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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.

In some scenarios, entrepreneurs may accept additional direct investment after closing their Seedrs campaign. Provided this is within 6 months of the closing and on the same terms, we do not typically offer pre-emption rights on that extra investment (where you have the opportunity to invest again to maintain your percentage shareholding).

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Secondary market

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Direct investment

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Payment options

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Business Involvement

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Payment options

We are not able to accept Pay by Bank payments for investments into this sector. You can pay for your investment with a card payment, by creating a bank transfer or by using funds in your investment account. Your investment will only be completed once the funds have reached our account.

Drawdowns

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Security Token

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