This post is brought to you by EquityEats.
The team behind Prequel, the first crowdfunded restaurant in the District, is confident they will meet their $200,000 goal this week. In only 25 days, Prequel has raised $184,500 (92% of their goal) from 278 different DC residents, with an average of $7,700 coming in each day. Moving into the final days of the campaign, the team is encouraging those who want to get involved to make a move since they cannot collect additional investments once they meet their $200,000 goal.
“If anyone is thinking about investing in Prequel, I’d encourage them to do it soon because once we hit the $200,000 goal, we are not legally allowed to take any more investments,” said EquityEats CEO Johann Moonesinghe. “The $200,000 amount was set in the crowdfunding application that was authorized by the DC securities regulators, so we cannot increase it without filing a new application.”
Prequel is a venture by DC-based startup EquityEats, bringing to DC what no other city in the world has. Prequel is a five-story, 17,000-sq-ft restaurant pop-up megaplex in Penn Quarter (in the former LivingSocial event space 918 F Street NW). Prequel will host over 100 ticketed restaurant pop-ups a year with up to five different pop-ups at the same time, including a speakeasy-style bar in the building’s basement. What’s even more exciting is that all DC residents can invest in the concept for as little as $100.
“It’s been amazing to meet Prequel’s investors. We’re really starting to build a community around the investors which is the whole point of crowdfunding. I hope that Prequel investors come in five days a week, this is their restaurant after-all” Moonesinghe said of the Prequel raise.
Based on Prequel’s projections, an investor who invests $500 will receive $530 in distributions in year 1 and $128 a year in future years for as long as Prequel is open. Additionally a $500 investor recieves other perks of being an owner like 10% off alcohol, a two free welcome drink every time they come in, tickets to cooking classes ($100 value), tickets to the opening party ($300 value) and other benefits. Like any investment, if Prequel doesn’t hit its projections investors could lose their initial investments.
With only a few days left in the campaign, those DC residents interested in learning more about getting involved with Prequel can visit PrequelDC.com.
