With £8m revenue to date, we create technology for experiences and products that brings fantasy to life
Business overview
| Location | London, United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Social media | |
| Website | thecauldron.io |
| Sectors | Food & Beverage Mixed Digital/Non-Digital B2C |
| Company number | 11344372 |
| Incorporation date | 3 May 2018 |
Business highlights
- 2019 turnover exceeding £5.3m with 106% growth v 2018*
- Brand, concept & tech protected by global patents & trademarks
- Opened central London flagship in 2020 to mirror flagship in NYC
- Demonstrable appetite and proof of concept in 4 countries
Idea
Introduction
The Cauldron is a technology-led entertainment studio that creates both at-home and in-person fantastical experiences that inspire, excite, and delight.
At the core of what we do is our patented magic wand technology, an invention that is unlocking new possibilities for the connected home, interactive retail store, and gamified hospitality venue.
Our mission is to bring fantasy to life with science, technology, and design, and to create an inclusive community of people who believe that magic is possible — it's just a matter of perspective. Upon entering our venues around the world, guests are given a magic wand, which acts as the control device for their visit— pouring pints, activating lights and locks, exploring science experiments, and stirring cocktails.
The Cauldron’s beachhead product, with venues in London, New York, Dublin, and Edinburgh, is a wizard-themed immersive cocktail-making class that combines our working magic wands with molecular mixology. The concept has evolved into a full-service restaurant, pub, and experience space that is ushering in the evolution of hospitality— interactive food & drink.
While Covid forced our venues to temporarily close, we used the time and considerable talent of our R&D arm to develop our technology stack into consumer retail products to create at-home magical experiences for adults and kids alike though wand-activated bedside lights, magical activity kits to foster creativity, monthly subscriptions boxes, and adult alcoholic potion kits.
In October of 2020 we opened the “Wands & Wizard Exploratorium,” a new five-floor venue on Greek Street in the very heart of London’s Soho. It is a family-focused retail and educational venue split into three parts: ground floor retail store and sweet shop to sell our products in real life, magic wand activated science exhibition space spread across 3 floors to demonstrate how magic can be made real with today’s technology, and the Wandmaker’s Workshop.
The top floor of the Wizard Exploratorium is opening as the “Magic Wand Experience,” an interactive retail experience where guests design and build their own working magic wand.
Intended Impact
We are now building a destination in London by creating an inclusive community of fans united around shared ownership of The Cauldron.
We find that The Cauldron strikes a chord with customers who are open to something different from their going-out and entertainment experience. Our venues encourage interactivity, exploration, and the opportunity to feel like a kid again.
We view the fantasy genre as an inclusive space for the wonderful and weird aspects of our world, including the beautiful witches, wizards, trans, and non-binary magical beings that fill it with colour. We pride ourselves on diversity and inclusivity and believe that fantasy belongs to everyone, including trans people.
We were recently accepted into Cohort 7 of StartOut Growth Lab, a highly selective startup accelerator that offers top quality mentoring, education, and networking opportunities for young companies that happen to be founded or co-founded by LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs.
Substantial accomplishments to date
In less than three years we have become a global creator of immersive concepts that blend science & tech with food & drink.
Business growth to date:
• Launched in 4 markets since inception: London, NYC, Edinburgh, and Dublin
• £8m+ in cumulative revenue since launch with £3.9m gross profit*
• 2019 revenue £5.3m EBITDA £301k*
• 106% YoY Revenue Growth (2018 v 2019)*
• 2019 gross profit of £2.5m. 53% profit growth v 2018*
• 2018 sales of £2.6m with £1.6m gross profit*
* Based on unaudited management accounts
Customer growth to date:
• 1m+ potions served
• 260,000+ guests welcomed
• International patents and trademarks on magic wands, drink dispensing system, and select brand terms
• Mailing list of over 72k subscribers
• Over 5.5k 5 star reviews
• Ticket and product selling partnerships with TimeOut, Airbnb Experiences, Secret London, Virgin Experience Days, It Is On, Groupon, and others
• Named in Time Out’s 2020 “best quirky bars & pubs in London”
Monetisation strategy
We generate revenue through:
1) online ticket sales for our immersive experiences,
2) food, drink, and merchandise sales inside of our venues, and
3) retail product sales for our online shop and inside Wands & Wizard Exploratorium.
Our main source of revenue is the pre-booked tickets for our immersive potions experience. Guests buy tickets directly from our website or from our growing network of ticket resellers.
Our full-service venues, which are a bar and restaurant as well as an immersive experience space, see a near 50/50 split of venue revenue from each offering. This means that when customers come into an immersive experience, they will often stay for food and drink and vice versa.
We have recently launched our online retail shop that sells a range of at-home potion-making kits for adults and Ed Tech DIY products for students, which teach programming and STEM with working magic wands. With this also comes a monthly subscription service. This allows us to reach current and new customers globally and increase lifetime value. Additionally, the opening of an in-person venue to feature and sell our retail products through the Wands & Wizard Exploratorium will be a strong addition to our company’s portfolio and offering.
Use of proceeds
40% of this investment will be used to open a central-London Cauldron flagship and provide additions to Wands & Wizard Exploratorium, 40% will be used to grow our retail technology, and 20% will be used for staff salaries to facilitate this growth.
In overfunding we will look toward more rapid expansion through franchising and licensing in order to scale The Cauldron to new markets. With this we will also look toward widening the breadth of offering and number of locations in London and New York.
The heart of The Cauldron and its "magicineering" studio of engineers, prop makers & experts in hospitality are inventing what we hope will be the next big immersive experience in hospitality.
Once Covid is past, The Cauldron is opening its interactive Superheroes Bar in London (inspired by the history of comic books), which it will then roll out through their venues around the world.
Equity for Magic is The Cauldron’s first equity crowdfunding raise as we believe that this idea belongs to a generation of fantasy fans.
Investor Rewards
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Key Information
Total Round Size:
The company has headroom to raise up to £3 million at the current valuation and this campaign will form part of that £3 million headroom.
Company Restructure:
This investment round has been launched on the basis that investors will be investing into the current holding company of the group, the Cauldron London Ltd ("Existing Holdco")
However, the Cauldron group is intending to carry out a restructure and incorporate a public company, the Cauldron Company Plc, as the group's holding company ("New Holdco"). The New Holdco is currently applying for EIS advance assurance and if this is received before the campaign closes, then:
1. Shareholders in the Existing Holdco will carry out a share for share transfer and become shareholders in New Holdco, while the Existing Holdco will become a subsidiary of New Holdco.
2. Seedrs investors will invest directly in New Holdco.
Should the New Holdco, for any reason, not be EIS-eligible, then Seedrs investors will invest in the Existing Holdco and the company restructure will not go ahead.
Outstanding debt:
The company has an outstanding merchant cash advance loan of £200,000, which is repaid each day from sales. None of the funds raised in this round will be used to repay the loan.
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