COAT Paints

Idea

Introduction

COAT is a Climate Positive paint company, selling premium paint directly to a new ethical breed of paint customer in a $150bn+ global market.

The experience of decorating is broken. Trawling the stores, being over-faced by choice, and faffing around with messy tester pots that go straight to landfill. We’ve been there, and we felt confused, exhausted, and environmentally destructive.

COAT is disrupting a legacy industry that has failed to innovate for far too long. Customers want ease, speed, and personalisation in the buying process - and authentic products with a strong ethical foundation. Incumbents just can’t get there.

COAT connects directly with customers with style, humility, and eco-consciousness at the heart of our brand message. We’re firmly positioning ourselves as the go-to paint brand for this generation, and the next.

Substantial accomplishments to date

In just 18 months, COAT has shown real traction as a disruptor:

- Growth: Over £1.3m in Sales Revenue since launch, from 50,000 customers - growing revenue 268% YoY (Jan ‘21 - Jan ‘22)*.

- Investment: £1.25m in equity investment (excluding the current round) to date. Backed by leading investors Pembroke VCT and True Capital from June 2021, we’re showing rapid growth with capital efficiency. COAT has also agreed investment terms from Channel 4 Ventures for £1.0m in Media as part of the current open round.

*Based on unaudited management accounts

- Product: Fundamental paint certifications of A+ Indoor Emissions ratings (Eurofins) and EN71-3 Child & Pet Safe Certifications (Intertek) achieved - whilst also adding new exterior paint products, colours, and size variants to grow the range.

- Brand: Consistently featured in Tier 1 press, and launched high-profile colour collaborations with iconic brands like Heal’s and Urban Outfitters.

- Team: Strong founder pairing of ‘Paint’ and ‘Marketing’ expertise, with backgrounds from Sherwin Williams (the world’s biggest paint company), BMW, and carwow. The wider team brings creative, interiors, growth expertise from Rolls-Royce, Farrow & Ball, House of Hackney, Arlo & Jacob, Wheely and more.

- Sustainability: Carbon Neutral as a business since launch, in July 2021 we gained Climate Positive status via our partners Carbon Jacked. COAT minimises and offsets twice our unavoidable Carbon emissions, and those of our supply chain, by investment in sustainability initiatives.

Monetisation strategy

The Paint & Coatings market is huge, estimated at around $150bn+ globally with £3.2bn in the UK alone.

COAT sells premium paint directly to consumers, via our online platform. We don’t wholesale or stock products in physical stores - meaning we connect directly with customers, nurture relationships, and maximise margins without the middlemen.

Margins: COAT has strong Direct Product Margins of 64%+, and Gross Margins of 50%+ - even at early stage volumes (6-month average Sept 21- Feb 22).

- Products: COAT is a premium paint, priced at £46 for 2.5L. We offer luxurious products and a modern way to try and buy.

- Digital Services: Virtual Colour Consultations and our Colour Visualiser help people make confident colour choices.

- Production: COAT paint is mixed fresh, packaged, and shipped to order the same day - with minimal stock overheads.

- Channels: the majority of COAT sales come from retail customers via our website, with some Trade and digital retail partnerships.

- Markets: all revenue is from the UK, with European launch planned in April 2022.

- Margins: paint has strong margins, even at early stage volumes.

Use of proceeds

We’re relatively new in the luxury paint game, so our focus is still very much on customer growth. With this investment we’ll focus on growth via three main areas:

- Product & Brand: we’ll reduce production complexity and increase margins with new production tech, grow recently launched new services, and launch new product variants.

- Marketing: we’ll continue to broaden our marketing mix with new channels and stable CAC, acquire more Trade customers, and build a deeper understanding of COAT customers through insights.

Market Expansion: we’ll retain our focus as ‘The Paint Experts’ and launch in new similar territories - leveraging our existing products and appealing brand to grow a bigger addressable market internationally.