London-based city experiences operator CityUnscripted has raised £1.25m from Wealth Club investors in just over three weeks since opening.
To accelerate its growth plans, CityUnscripted decided to raise £1m under EIS, in a deal available exclusively through the Wealth Club. There was so much interest from investors, the company agreed an over-allotment facility of £250,000. The total amount of £1.25 million was raised in just 22 days.
Wealth Club told GBI Magazine that the strong demand mirrors other recent single company EIS offers from their portfolio, adding that these have sold out in record time as recent rule changes push investors away from investing in asset backed investments (no longer allowed) into genuine fast-growing entrepreneurial businesses.
CityUnscripted offers private and personalised experiences with a city host in 35 destinations around the world including New York, Tokyo, Madrid and London. The aim is to give curious travellers the opportunity to see a place through an inspiring lens, always feeling like they’re strolling through a city with a knowledgeable friend.
The company has been growing 20% a month on average for the last 20 consecutive months on a relatively modest investment said the Wealth Club. The global tours and experiences market is currently valued at $18bn and forecast to grow at 11% a year until 2020.
Nick Whitfield, founder and CEO of City Unscripted, said: “We are so happy with the overwhelmingly positive response from the WealthClub investor network, what we do clearly resonates as strongly with them as it does with our guests. Their investment will help us to supercharge our growth so that we can offer and deliver exceptional city experiences to a much larger audience in a much shorter time.”
Alex Davies, CEO and founder of Wealth Club, added: “A regular stream of investment opportunities lands on my desk every week. This one immediately stood out. It’s a genuinely entrepreneurial business in an attractive market, which has achieved impressive results on a shoestring. In my view, they’ve also combined a great idea, with a passionate and determined management team. They’ve all left the corporate world and taken significant pay cuts to turn CityUnscripted into a success. With the money we’ve helped them raise they should be able to compete on a more level playing field with much larger companies with far deeper pockets.”
