This post is brought to you by Bluebird Bakery.
DC’s best bakers are seeking investment to open their own bakery. They are allowing DC residents to invest in their future brick-and-mortar space for as little as $100 each.
Bluebird Bakery, by acclaimed pastry chefs Tom Wellings (Fiola Mare, Restaurant Eve, Maestro) and Camila Arango (Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Adour, Maestro), is a bakery startup that just became the first of its kind authorized by the D.C. government to allow investment-based crowdfunding. Bluebird is currently hosting a popular pop-up at Prequel in Penn Quarter.
In the next month and a half, Bluebird is seeking to raise $300,000 in startup capital from up to 500 District residents who can invest as little as $100 or as much as $100,000 each. To date, Bluebird has already raised almost $107,800 (36 percent of their goal) from investors ranging from $100 to $25,000.
What separates this campaign from Kickstarter, is that Bluebird allows investors to buy equity in the new business — not just receive perks. If Bluebird meets its fundraising goal and hits its financial projections, investors could earn back their money in the first two years and then future returns for the life of the bakery.
Wellings and Arango are able to raise money while operating out of Prequel, a restaurant pop-up complex in Penn Quarter that gives burgeoning new businesses without a storefront the chance to test their products and engage with customers.
Bluebird is charting a new path where Washingtonians can participate in the restaurant scene fully, by getting a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into the business and an opportunity to benefit financially from a successful, local business. So, in addition to the financial return, why should people invest with Bluebird?
“To invest back into their own city,” Wellings said. “Bluebird provides quality foods and a quality environment that will help not only the culinary landscape, but the local business landscape of D.C. grow.”
Bluebird is an Old World-style boulangerie-patisserie featuring a vast array of artisanal pastries and daily bread service on par with the country’s finest producers. It’s at Prequel’s historic 918 F Street NW storefront where Wellings and Arango are able to bake decadent croissants, tortas, tea cakes, macarons and the hard-to-find-yet-totally-worth-the-hunt kouign-amann.
District residents can learn more about the opportunity to invest in Bluebird at BluebirdDC.com. The first 50 DCist readers who use code “DCistTreat” when making their investment will also receive their choice of a free pastry at Bluebird’s pop-up at 918 F Street NW.
