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The Cauldron

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With £8m revenue to date, we create technology for experiences and products that brings fantasy to life

103%
 - 
Funded 14 Dec 2020
£325,000 target
£337,502 from 401 investors
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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
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Investment summary

Type Equity
Valuation (pre-money) £20M
Equity offered 1.66%
Tax relief

EIS

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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
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Key features

  • Secondary Market
  • Nominee investment min. £10.00 +

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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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

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This campaign for The Cauldron has been approved by Seedrs Limited (trading as Republic Europe) ("Republic Europe", "us" or "we"), as of 14 October 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 £20,000,002

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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

The equity offered is the percentage of the company’s shares being issued in return for the amount of investment raised.

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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If you invest in this Campaign, Seedrs will act as Custodian rather than provide our standard nominee service. This is due to the fact that the business is not directly involved in the share sale and Seedrs will not benefit from any rights under a shareholder agreement. As a result, Seedrs will handle administrative tasks as we do normally, but you will not have information or voting rights, updates from the business, preemption on future fundraising, or ongoing support about business trading activity.

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Secondary market

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Direct investment

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Business Involvement

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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.

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