An equity crowdfunding campaign should be an early seed staging post on every start-up journey.

For Ebru Evrim, fresh off the pandemic and looking to leverage the first small studio in Skipton for a much bigger one in Harrogate to take advantage of a changing high street, it was always going to be a tough sell. New branches of anything cost a lot of money to restore and establish, however it’s done.

Despite the degree of difficulty, Seedrs encouraged the corporate structure, pitch deck and campaign momentum that helped procure £200k in EIS equity, £300k in convertible loan notes, and a £75k 12 month interest only loan over the campaign period. So a total £575k between launching the campaign and closing it cost £2,500 in campaign fees.

Thank you Laura and Seedrs, you are every seed stage start up’s dream!

That under the belt, attention switched to Leeds, to add a city branch to small town Skipton and big town Harrogate. A Leeds branch would complete the brand concept on a scaleable platform, in a way that would deliver founder, management and investors clear data on where to expand from there.

As luck would have it, Rushbond PLC were looking for a dynamic tenant for First White Cloth Hall, an historic listed building they had restored with the help of Historic England and the The National Lottery Heritage Fund, in a combined effort to rejuvenate Kirkgate, the oldest street in Leeds city center.

The restoration was tailor made for an Ebru Evrim branch, and located in the right area to draw on the different income streams that make up the brand. While Kirkgate was never going to become another James St in Harrogate, it had the potential to develop in a direction that we thought we could play an early part in, and benefit from.

With Harrogate and Skipton cash positive now, we are looking for equity investment upfront for Leeds, off a Polymath pitch deck template, which is original freestyle like everything Polymath branded, and I hope sufficient to spark the interest of an investment fund who likes the look of the sapling.

Leeds Flagship Pitch deckDownload