London-based coffee shop concept Tap Coffee launches £400,000 crowdfunding campaign for expansion: London-based coffee shop concept Tap Coffee has launched a £400,000 fund-raise on crowdfunding platform Crowdcube to open two sites as it aims to build a ten-strong estate by 2020. The company, founded by Richard Lilley, who previously worked for the Rushmore Group, is offering a 16.67% equity stake in return for the investment. It currently has three central London cafes as well as an online retail operation and is seeking the investment to expand and “take its coffee philosophy to a wider audience”. The pitch states: “We’re a progressive, independent company with a passion for hospitality and people. We want to be a truly great place to be – as well as incredible coffee and awesome food for our customers, our aim is to be the best coffee company to work for in town; if everyone is happy and enjoying what they do, then everything else will follow. We have three central London cafes serving more than a third of a million customers last year, a roasting and retail division producing more than 20 tonnes of coffee per year, annual turnover for 2014/15 just under £1.3m, profitability for the past three years, revenue growth of 500% since 2011, and brand equity that we are proud of. Our mission is to remove barriers to better coffee. As a company, we are not here to make coffee but to sell it – to bring an exceptional coffee experience to as many people as possible. Innovation is in our DNA. Looking to the future we are in the process of developing a self-service order and contactless payment system that will negate the need to queue in the coming months, fast, reliable and efficient, future proofing with easy app integration from further development. Your investment will fund the opening of two new London shops in the next 18 months; our wider ambition is to go on to open ten sites by 2020 after further funding. In summary, we genuinely do believe we have the best balance of quality, accessibility and innovation. We think there are operators of higher quality who are too expensive; who are faster but poorer quality; more innovative but slower to execute. It is balance that is key to success, defining ours and validating our ambition over the next 24 months. The company forecasts Ebitda of £68,256 by next March, increasing to £164,516 the following year and £304,911 by March 2019.