Wrap it Up took £760k off 560 Crowdcube investors in 2015. Now two years on how have they performed against their Crowdcube offer?
Well you guessed it.Yet another hopeless failure.
The Crowdcube version had profits for the year just filed (Dec 17) of £670k. The company actually made losses of £230k and since funding, has never made a bean despite claiming to be profit making on the pitch.
The pitch emphasises the new central kitchen which can service up to 100 outlets. Hell that is fantastic if you are using it but with only 17 outlets on their website some might say this a total waste of capex.
We shall have to wait and see what the outcome is - the company is complicated see here and there are new non related Wrap it Ups popping up - so the brand is hardly valuable. Units that do exist and are run by this Wrap it Up, get very average reviews - not what investors might want in a growth company.
The whole picture is very confusing. It does beggar belief that 560 investors could give away £760k for this at a dreamy £6.5m and not invest in a current pitch by Appetise, which offers value for money and a real chance of success. You have to wonder at the sophistication of this crowd.
You really do love Appetise, don't you Rob? I know you have a vested interest, but will you be investing? Maybe people have been reading this blog a lot since 2015, and decided to take less risk? A case of biting the hand...?
ReplyDeleteDont be silly Steve, argue a real point no some petty mud slinging please. We have a general agreement amongst people who know how to invest in early stage Cos, that Appetise offers a sensible and value for money chance to get a return. Yet it has failed to get off the ground, let alone cross the line on Crowdcube. There must be reasons why people invest in the sort of nonsense we write about here day and day out. As one those, maybe you could answer the Q - why not Appetise? If people did actually want to take less risk as you suggest, then Crowdcube would be finished - this is not the case as anyone with their eyes open can see for themselves. Crowdcube's crowd dont like Appetise for whatever reason. We would have never put Appetise on this platform or in fact run the campaign the way they have. We merely as the Q why do CC people back such obvious nonsense when a perfectly decent opportunity is spurned? Maybe you have the answer?As always, we have been totally up front about our involvement.
ReplyDeleteDid you invest in appetise?
DeleteIt seems to me that a lot of the silly money from retail investors in crowdfunding has gone. The valuations are going to need to get more realistic too.
I found the Appetise pitch to be unconvincing. The market feels sewn up already with Just Eat and individual restaurants having their own delivery services. Plus of course you have the might of Uber and Deliveroo in the market although appreciate that this is a slightly different model.
ReplyDeleteThe strategy of Appetise appears to be, lets try and disrupt the market and be annoying in the hope we will be bought by Just Eat for a tidy profit. Hardly an innovative idea or business model.
As for Wrap it up I didn't invest in them either although have eaten in their restaurants. I actually like the wraps, especially the Indian ones, but their branding seems quite old and outdated. It is also a hugely competitive market. The nearest Wrap it up from my office has a chilango opposite it and 8 other places to buy lunch within a minutes walk.
Looks like you may have missed the point with Appetise. I would never have suggestd they place their campaign on CC as the sort of investors in general the platform gets are just not the right type for this offer. So right again. Of course that was not their strategy or even close to it.
DeleteJesus Crowdcube are emailing me about this crap: “SPiCE is a disruptive Venture Capital fund that is built around blockchain and cryptocurrencies”. The end is nigh.
ReplyDeleteWe just wrote about it.
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