HomeCooks Financial Model

• Platform connects three types of food creators (Amateurs/Hobbyists, Professional Chefs, Micro Brands) with consumers ("Eaters").
• Creators batch-cook meals; HomeCooks handles cold-chain logistics (pickup, frozen storage, dispatch).
• Eaters receive ambient or frozen pre-prepped meals, reheatable in 5–10 minutes.
• Creator onboarding costs ~£0 CapEx; company scales chefs up slowly, ordering only what it knows will sell.
• Social layer in development: chef profiles, community messaging, social feed - intended to increase engagement and virality.
• Average meal price on HomeCooks: £5–£8 vs. Deliveroo £9–£15.
• Prep time: 5–10 minutes vs. Gousto 10–45 minutes, HelloFresh 20–45 minutes.

• UK TAM (home food service): £10bn in 2015 → £18bn in 2021
• Breakdown 2021: Takeaway Delivery £11bn, Ready Meals £4bn, Meal Kits £2bn
• Global Eat at Home Market: £250bn
• UK food creator supply pool: ~500,000 creators (amateurs, professional chefs, micro brands)
• Market validation comps (US food creator marketplaces): Shef $20m Series A (a16z), Cook Unity $47m Series B, Goldbelly $100m Series B

• Marketplace take-rate on GMV (transaction value). Revenue is explicitly separated from "Transaction Value" in the 2024–2028 forecast, implying a take-rate.
• Implied take-rate 2024: Revenue £682k / Transaction Value £1.8m = ~38%
• Implied take-rate 2025: Revenue £5.6m / Transaction Value £14.2m = ~39%
• Implied take-rate 2026: Revenue £36m / Transaction Value £87m = ~41%
• Note: take-rate appears remarkably high for a marketplace; it likely encompasses logistics/fulfilment revenue bundled in, not pure commission. The deck does not disaggregate commission from logistics fees.
• Consumer-facing: pre-prepped meal orders; average basket value £40
• Average meal price per dish: £5–£8; implying ~5–8 items per basket
• Creator-side: no listing fees stated; revenue model for creators is purely from sales (no take explicitly called out for creator side)
• 2 orders per customer per month

Quarterly revenue (slide 06):

• Q3 2022: £10k
• Q4 2022: £36k
• Q1 2023: £67k
• Q2 2023: £81k
• Q3 2023: £105k
• Q4 2023 (run rate): £158k*

Other KPIs as of deck date (~Q3/Q4 2023):

• Customers: 6,000+
• Meals ordered (cumulative): 50,000+
• Average Basket Value: £40
• Average Monthly Revenue Growth: 24%
• Active Chefs: 100+
• Available Meals: 200+
• Orders per customer per month: 2

Active food creator growth:

• Q3 2022: 28
• Q4 2022: 45
• Q1 2023: 56
• Q2 2023: 85
• Q3 2023: 129

Supply pipeline: 900+ food brands on waiting list

Near-term target: £150k monthly revenue by Q2 2024; 500 active meals by Q4 2024

• No explicit CAC figure stated in deck.
• No explicit LTV figure stated.
• No gross margin or contribution margin stated.
• Deck claims "quick user payback" vs. meal kit competitors, attributed to subsidised CPA through creator referrals.
• Acquisition channel mix (slide 19): Eater Referral 33.3%, Paid Online 19%, Influencer 14.3%, Creator Referral 14.3%, Social 11.4%, Offline Direct 7.6%.
• Creator revenue benchmarks (slide 15): Amateurs £0.6k–£0.8k/month; Professional Chefs £3k–£4.8k/month; Micro Brands £6.5k–£8.5k/month.
• Current mix of active creators (slide 15): Micro Brands 39%, Professional Chefs 29%, Amateurs 23%, Other 9%.

• Primary delivery competitors: Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Just Eat - HomeCooks positioned higher quality / lower price, UK-wide coverage.
• Meal kit competitors: Gousto, HelloFresh - HomeCooks faster to cook (5–10 min) and more variety (200+ vs 50–75 dishes).
• Moat claims: network effects (more creators → more dishes → more orders → more creators); supply-side lock-in (low churn; chefs invested in brand on platform); community/social features building switching cost; UK-wide cold-chain logistics as operational barrier.
• Key differentiators: £0 creator CapEx; national UK delivery; frozen format enabling non-metropolitan reach where Deliveroo/Uber are absent.

Team:

• Josh Magidson - Founder & CEO; previously founded Eatstudent (acquired by Just Eat) and Zing Zing (largest Chinese food delivery chain in UK).
• Alex Waddington - Partner Growth (ex Abel & Cole)
• Nick Collins - Operations Lead (ex Yo Sushi)
• Selin Erkut - Community
• Charlotte Litman - Product
• Dusan Koutny - CTO (Non-Exec)
• Miao Chen - Head of Growth

Investors / Advisors:

• SpeedInvest, Love Ventures
• Daniel Murray-Serter (Founder, Heights)
• Laurens Groeneveld (Founder, Just Eat)
• Leonard Picardo (Founding Team, Deliveroo)
• Islington Council

Funding ask: Not explicitly stated in deck. No raise amount, valuation, or use-of-funds breakdown shown.

12-month priorities (use of implied raise):

• UK Growth: £150k monthly revenue by Q2 2024; 500 active meals by Q4 2024
• Tech: App release Q2 2024; Social Feed Q3 2024
• Team: 5x key hires in growth, tech, and product

Archetype + why: Marketplace GMV / take-rate P&L with supply-side (creator) and demand-side (eater) driver trees. HomeCooks earns a blended take-rate on GMV (commission + logistics); both sides need separate driver trees. This is not a SaaS or subscription model - it is a transaction-volume-driven marketplace, so revenue is best modelled as: `Active Chefs × Avg Dishes per Chef × Dish Orders per Month × Avg Dish Price × Take Rate`. A 3-statement model is warranted only at Series A; for this seed deck a GMV waterfall + contribution-margin bridge is more appropriate.

Forecast horizon & granularity:

• Monthly for 2024–2025 (near-term operational visibility); annual summaries for 2026–2028.
• Deck provides annual milestones through 2028; near-term target is £150k MRR by Q2 2024.

Key drivers & assumptions:

Supply side (creator tree):

• Active food creators, Q3 2023: 129
• Active creator monthly growth rate: ~17% QoQ historically → implies ~5% MoM
• Creator mix: 39% Micro Brands, 29% Professional Chefs, 23% Amateurs, 9% Other
• Avg dishes per creator type: Micro Brand 1,000+, Professional Chef 500, Amateur 100
• Creator churn rate: low (management-driven, not voluntary);
• Supply target 2024: 400 active chefs; 500 active meals (distinct from chefs) by Q4 2024

Demand side (eater tree):

• Active customers (cumulative): 6,000+
• Orders per customer per month: 2
• Average basket value: £40
• Average monthly customer growth: 24% -
• Eater acquisition: 33% via eater referral, 14% creator referral, 19% paid online, 14% influencer, 11% social, 8% offline

Revenue / take-rate:

• Blended take-rate on GMV: ~38–41% implied from deck forecast
• This likely includes logistics/fulfilment pass-through; actual commission rate unknown separately
• Avg meal price to end consumer: £5–£8 per dish; avg basket £40 → ~5–8 items per order

Unit economics (to be built bottom-up):

• LTV proxy: 2 orders/month × £40 basket × estimated gross margin % × estimated retention months

Company-provided revenue forecast:

• 2024: Revenue £682k, Chefs 400, Orders 59k, GMV £1.8m
• 2025: Revenue £5.6m, Chefs 1.3k, Orders 459k, GMV £14.2m
• 2026: Revenue £36m, Chefs 2.4k, Orders 2.7m, GMV £87m
• 2027: Revenue £161m, Chefs 23k, Orders 11.8m, GMV £388m
• 2028: Revenue £556m, Chefs 57k, Orders 40m, GMV £1.35bn

Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):

• Base: Monthly creator growth ~5% MoM; take-rate ~38%; basket value stable at £40; UK-only through 2025; European launch 2026 on plan
• Bull: Creator growth accelerates with social features (app launch); basket value grows as Micro Brand mix increases; European launch ahead of schedule
• Bear: Creator growth stalls at 150–200 (quality control churn); logistics costs spike; paid acquisition required as referral loop matures; European launch delayed

Key flex variables: active creator count, orders per creator, blended take-rate, logistics cost per order, customer acquisition mix (organic vs. paid), geographic expansion timing.

Required sheets / outputs:

1. Assumptions - all inputs, tagged vs.
2. Creator Model - active creator build (adds, churn, mix by tier), dishes per creator, GMV per creator
3. Eater Model - active customer build, orders/month, basket value, total orders, total GMV
4. Revenue Bridge - GMV × take-rate → revenue; split by commission vs. logistics if data available
5. Cost Structure - logistics (per order), platform ops, marketing (CPA × new customers), headcount (5 hires), tech/product
6. Contribution Margin - revenue minus variable costs (logistics, creator payouts if applicable)
7. P&L - through to EBITDA; net income likely not needed at seed stage
8. Cash & Runway - simplified cash flow; burn rate vs. raise proceeds (when raise amount known)
9. KPI Dashboard - MRR, active chefs, active customers, orders, GMV, take-rate, CAC, payback
10. Scenario Toggle - Base / Bull / Bear with single-input switches