Hokkei, a new Cardiff based restaurant launched by two MasterChef finalists Dale Williams and Larkin Cen, recently launched an equity crowdfunding campaign to raise £275,000 on Seedrs.
As previously reported, Williams and Cen are looking to share 25% of the business, which aims to flip Chinese takeaway food on its head and remove the stigma attached to takeaways being unhealthy and unadventurous.
Sharing the backstory of Hokkei, the restaurant’s team revealed:
“Two MasterChef finalists became friends with a shared vision for a special kind of takeaway. With the mission set, the boys set about creating a business and menu that flips the traditional Chinese takeaway on its head. To test their ideas they set up a pop up in the five star Celtic Manor, and were blown away by the feedback, Hokkei was born. Dedication to authentic and delicious flavors, using ethically sourced, high quality ingredients and a service second to none are just three things that make Hokkei awesome.”
The campaign, which has already drawn the attention of more than 160 investors including Go Compare co-founder, Hayley Parsons, who has invested £50,000 of her own money for around 4.5% of the business.
With £225,000 already committed to the campaign, Seedrs is on course to smashing through the £1 million milestone. Indeed upon completion of this round the total amount invested in Cymru-based businesses through the Seedrs platform will be more than £1 million after six successful fundraising rounds.
This includes Veeqo, a Swansea based tech startup, which previously raised £700,000 through the crowdfunding platform including investment from New Look founder, Tom Singh.
Additionally, Fuzmo, an image sharing service aimed at animal lovers, initially turned down an offer on BBC’s Dragon’s Den and instead raised investment through Seedrs.
Jeff Lynn, CEO at Seedrs, stated:
“We’re proud to be on the cusp of raising £1 million for Wales based businesses. Wales has become a hotbed for innovative start-ups and these businesses have selected Seedrs to raise investment because of our ‘equity crowdfunding done properly’ approach.
“We’re hoping to use this milestone, and our new relationship with Impact Innovations, as a launch pad to raise more capital for Welsh businesses and believe that equity crowdfunding can help these companies to fulfil their growth ambitions.”
The UK alternative finance market is predicted to grow to £4.4 billion in 2015 up from £1.7 billion in 2014 as businesses increasingly look to source more efficient ways to raise capital.
Between 2012 and 2014 the equity crowdfunding sector alone grew by 410%. Against this backdrop, in the past three years Seedrs has become the most successful equity crowdfunder in Europe, funding 110 deals in 2014.
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