Question 1

Fascinating pitch so far and thank you. What are your long-term exit goals? As a SAFE vs. an equity stake or debt note, one naturally wonders how a 16-year-old private company gives investors opportunities for a return. I love the business so far, I'd just like to hear about p...

Accepted Answer

Thanks for reaching out Brad! 1. Regarding long-term exit goals and opportunities for return: Boutique food companies have some lofty models for exit goals - some examples from friends we work closely with include Nestlé's incredible acquisition of Oakland's Blue Bottle Coffee or Ezaki Glico's recent acquisition of Berkeley's TCHO Chocolate. But we also see grounded models here for privately held dividend-returning companies like our friends at local bakery Semifreddi's in Alameda, whose CEO ...

Question 2

What are the financial goals of the company for 2018 and 2019? What are your ideas around getting to a cash flow positive position?

Accepted Answer

Thanks, Kevin. The plan set out with the SBA lender includes an immediate reduction in monthly payments with the refinancing of most of our current debt. This, and the interest-only period of the loan during construction, gives us the cash flow to open the upgraded creamery with its cost-of-goods efficiencies. Even with the new real estate, construction costs, and new equipment, our monthly payments on loans will decrease by around $15k. There are some cost increases in something like utiliti...

Question 3

Given the availability of VC or Angel investments in Bay Area specialty foods market, why are you not raising the money through that route? Why did you choose a bank loan and crowdfund?

Accepted Answer

Thanks, Nico. When you look at what some of our fundraise is going towards, for example acquiring real estate and equipment, a bank is a strong option because they can collateralize those hard assets. One good thing about a bank is that it does not dilute the equity in the company. We thought a crowdfund here would be appropriate because: (A) the bank has already done its due diligence for the crowd; (B) every $1 raised on Wefunder unlocks up to $4 of non-dilutive capital; and (C) it's "all o...

Question 4

Hi, how did you come up with the $8.9 million valuation? When do you expect to be cash flow positive? Thanks

Accepted Answer

Thanks, Sam. 1. With regards to our valuation, I think you meant an $8.7 million valuation, which is our valuation cap for this offering. That $8.7 million valuation was based on our last successful share sale which was set at $2.25/share. It's somewhat comforting that with our current revenue, that valuation is roughly a 3.0x multiple of revenue. This may be within the ballpark of sanity for a valuation, given that the average of food and CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) startup valuations have...

Question 5

Your form C shows 2017 Revenue down approximately $678,000 vs 2016 Revenue. What happened? Negative Tax amounts in 16 and 17 implies that there was a profit in prior years so you could get a Net Operating Loss Carryback credit. Is this correct? If so, when was the company last...

Accepted Answer

Thanks, Ted. A. We had mentioned the decline in revenue above to Wefunder during our interview as it has to do with our ancillary distribution business rather than anything related to the Naia brand. For convenience I will reproduce that here: . Wefunder: Can you tell us more about the dip in sales from 2016 to 2017? . Chris: One of our larger customers, Whole Foods Market, publically went through a tough time pivoting the company and ultimately getting acquired by Amazon.com. As part of the ...

Naia

16 years of original, award-winning gelato

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Naia

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