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Vini Italiani

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Italian wine bar & merchant in London ready to expand.

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Funded
£250,000 target
£308,120 from 0 investors
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Business overview

Location London, United Kingdom
Social media
Website italianwines.com
Company number 07404610
Incorporation date 12 Oct 2010
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Investment summary

Type Equity
Valuation (pre-money) £1.9M
Equity offered 11.63%
UK tax relief

EIS

Idea

Introduction

The UK is one of the biggest markets for Italian wines (over £1.7 billion per year).

Italy has an incredibly interesting variety of grapes and wines: from the well known Pinot Grigio, Prosecco, Nero d'Avola, Primitivo, Barolo, Chianti to hundreds of lesser known but very distinctive ones like Albana, Vermentino, Franciacorta, Barbaresco, Morellino, Falanghina, Greco di Tufo and many more.

Vini Italiani is entirely dedicated to giving UK wine lovers the best Italian wine experience they can get in retail, wine bars and online. We enjoy a multi-channel revenue approach: wine bars/stores, online and wholesale all focused on helping the UK market appreciate and discover the huge variety and quality of our wines.

The founding team (all Italian wine lovers) believe that by having an undivided focus on Italian wines the company can build a brand which will be recognised and identified as the leader in promoting and commercialising Italian wines in the UK.

Intended impact

The company has been operational since the end of 2011 when we opened our store in South Kensington.

In 2013 we launched our website at the enviable internet address www.italianwines.com, launched our wholesale operation in London and added the wine bar to the store at the end of the year. We have also become a main supplier of Italian wines to Ocado, where we run our own-branded "shop in the shop" (http://bit.ly/vini_italiani_ocado)

The company has already achieved some important results: we have built a very loyal customer base and have already been recognised as the undisputed leading Italian wine merchant in the UK. In only two years we have gone from just over 20,000 bottles sold in year one to 100,000 and just shy of £1M in revenue in 2014.

Now that we have fine tuned our format (wine + food + retail) we are ready to open more wine bars/stores in Central London. This would generate economies of scale thanks to centralised costs for admin, marketing and logistics.

This funding round would help us open a new location in a key strategic location (depending on availability and price): the City, Mayfair, Covent Garden or Marylebone.

Substantial accomplishments to date

We have been recognised by the leading trade press and international wine bodies as the top Italian wine store and bar in the UK:

* Currently 5 stars and number 127 out of 18,328 restaurants in London on Tripadvisor (3/2/2015)
* Specialist Retailer of the year: Italy 2014 - (Decanter)
* Best Top Merchant Online Retailer of the Year 2014 - Finalist (Harpers Awards)
* Specialist Merchant of the Year: Italy 2014 - Shortlisted (International Wine Challenge)
* Specialist Wine Merchant of the Year 2013 - WINNER (Decanter WWA)
* Innovator of the Year 2013 - WINNER (Harpers Awards)
* Best Merchant of the Year 2013 - Finalist (Harpers Awards)
* Best New/Emerging Drinks Business of the Year - Finalist 2013 (Harpers Awards)
* Specialist Merchant of the Year: Italy 2013 - Shortlisted (International Wine Challenge)
* Best Innovation of the Year 2012 - WINNER (Decanter WWA)

Monetisation strategy

The business generates revenues with varying margins from its sales channels:

* Wine bars + retail
* Our website italianwines. com
* Wholesale to London restaurants and bars
* Ocado

Depending on the distribution channel, we typically expect gross margin on our wine sales to vary from about 65% to approximately 15%.

Wine bars & food enjoy the highest gross margin with wholesale having the smallest.

Use of proceeds

We are now ready to open a new location in London as we have the platform, experience and resources to easily replicate the successful wine bar in South Kensington. We have pretty much everything ready (branding, menus, wines, uniforms, formats, online presence, etc). We need to find a suitable location, carry out the refurbishment works and open for business.

This investment is in the whole company and not just in the new wine bar. This means you will participate in any future growth from any of the activities the company will develop.

SPECIAL PERK: If you invest a minimum of £2,000, you will also enjoy a massive shareholder discount of 20% on our range of products and services including wine, events, wine bar lunches or dinners, online orders, wine trips for as long as you hold your shares.

Market

Target market

The market for Vini Italiani is anyone drinking wine in the UK. As the proposition is articulated over multiple channels, we aim to grow our sales via the wine bars, our website and the wholesale efforts.

In particular, the next wine bar is planned to be located in an area in Central London characterised by:

* high foot fall
* medium to high average disposable income
* adjacent to other bars/restaurants and entertainment venues.
* focus on wine + food to maximise gross margin

Italian wines are generally high quality and medium priced making them very attractive to anyone who likes wine.

Characteristics of target market

Italian wines are the fastest growing segment in the wine industry in the UK.

The market share has grown from 14.97% in 2012 to 16.85% in 2013 principally to the detriment of French wines (dropped from 38. 22% to 35. 53%).

The total value of Italian wines imported in the UK in 2013 was £534,000,000 (France £1,126,000,000 and Australia £288,000,000).

UK Trade data shows that for the period January - May 2014 compared to the same period in 2013, Italian wines are the only growing segment against the top 4 (France, Australia, Spain, and Italy). See table below:

Growth Jan-May 2014 versus Jan-May 2013
France: -19.57%
Italy: +6.59%
Australia: -11.11%
Spain: -1.12%

Marketing strategy

The strong, undivided focus on Italian wines is our main marketing card. We have already started building a strong brand around our expertise and integrity in selecting and promoting great value Italian wines in the UK.

Our strong focus on quality editorial content, courses and encounters with producers in our venues, clever and expert use of digital channels is how we believe we can build a strong recognition in the market.

Customers recognise and appreciate authority when it comes to complex and fragmented products like wine.

We have also built a good following on the main social networks, a large customer database and strong ties with the press. All of these we intend to leverage to promote our new venue and all the initiatives we have in mind for the future.

Competition strategy

The key company values are:

1. Passion for the product
2. Excellence in service both off and online
3. Expertise and authority of the Italian wine ecosystem

We believe that these will be the key elements which will help us establish a strong brand and a loyal customer base.

We have already proven we can deliver a superior experience to our customers across all channels: number 127 and 5 stars on Tripadvisor, Top Italian Wine Merchant of the Year 2014 - Decanter.

We intend to carry on on this track.

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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 Vini Italiani has been approved by Seedrs Limited (trading as Republic Europe) ("Republic Europe", "us" or "we"), as of 13 March 2015 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 £1,899,676

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 Republic Europe.

Pitch type

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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 Republic Europe 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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