The London-based, Mexican restaurant chain, Chilango is celebrating the success of its mini-bond campaign on the Crowdcube crowdfunding platform. 749 people have put £2,160,000 into the Burrito BondTM in return for 8% gross interest per annum during the four year term of the bond. This is the largest amount ever raised on Crowdcube, beating last year’s record set by Hab Housing of £1.97 million.
The average amount invested is approximately £2,900, with the largest investment at £50,000. People invested from Cornwall to Scotland but 82% of bond holders live in London and the South East. Women form a healthy 22% of the whole set, investing £500,000 between them.
As well as the 8% interest p.a., investors receive a variety of benefits including two free burrito vouchers to all those that invest and a VIP bondholder party to the first 100 investors. In addition, the 102 people that invested £10,000 or more will receive Chilango Black Cards entitling them to a free meal per week for the duration of the bond.
The funds raised will help open the next three Chilango restaurants, alongside the seven that already attract long lunchtime queues in Upper Street, London Wall, Leather Lane, Chancery Lane, Fleet Street, Brushfield Street and Monument.
Eric Partaker, co-founder of Chilango is thrilled with the result: “The brand awareness and engagement we created, together with Crowdcube, is simply off-the-charts. The bond has been a massive success; we not only raised the capital we needed to open our next batch of restaurants, but have also created 749 brand ambassadors to support our growth. The team at Crowdcube made the whole process straightforward and efficient and it’s an experience we look forward to repeating. Debt options for SMEs in Britain have expanded in a major way, and it was delight to help spearhead this new and exciting route to funding.”
Luke Lang, co-founder of Crowdcube says: “It’s great that the Burrito Bond has attracted so many people who not only believe in Chilango’s future as a viable, profitable business, but are also fans of its fabulous fresh food. This was the first mini-bond to launch on Crowdcube and it has shown that the British public is really open to alternative ways of getting a return on their savings beyond banks and building societies.”
