Smash crowd-funds expansion plans
Smash Padel has gone live with a crowdfunding campaign to raise around £350,000 from its players and supporters to help fund the development of new clubs with covered courts.
The company currently has six courts across two padel centres – one in Bicester and a second in Oxford (formerly the MVP facility) – with plans for 14 new courts by the end of the year and 20 by the end of Q1 next year. First to be open will be covered sites in Whitstable, Kent, Haywards Heath Rugby Club, Sussex, and Cardiff.
Key to success for Smash is providing outdoor canopied courts, which it believes deliver ‘superior’ profits to uncovered or warehoused courts. CEO Rupert Taylor said: “Building outdoor courts with weather protection takes time as the canopies require planning permission. But we now have a number of sites ready to build and we would be thrilled if our customers, who have helped get us to this point, could share in the financial return we anticipate from building courts in an extremely under-served padel market.”
Coach-led venues are also hugely important, as Rupert explained: “Whilst almost everyone who steps on a padel court has fun, to convert that early excitement into regular play new players need support on the first steps of their padel journey. Once people get an understanding of the game they really get hooked. So we think an investment in coaches is the best way to grow the game and give people a great experience.”
So far Smash – valued at almost £5,800,000 prior to this latest funding round – has raised more than £2.2 million from investors. Via Crowdcube investors are being offered shares at £2 each, with 75% of the target allocation already reached.
For more information click here or contact Smash Padel (info@smashpadel.co). 🎾
