# HomeCooks Financial Model Two-sided marketplace connecting home/micro food creators with consumers for pre-prepped, frozen-then-delivered meals - "the Etsy of food." - Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/homecooks - Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/homecooks.xlsx - Category: Marketplace - Model type: SaaS ARR / Valuation - Funding round: Seed - Funding: $3.2M - Founded: 2023 - Geography: UK (national delivery), with European launch planned 2026, global 2028. - Customer: B2C ## About the company HomeCooks is a marketplace for home and micro food creators to sell prepared meals to consumers. Creators batch-cook dishes, while the platform manages pickup, frozen storage, and delivery so customers can reheat a wide selection of meals quickly. The company reported more than 6,000 customers, 100 active chefs, 50,000 meals ordered, and 24% average monthly revenue growth. With typical meals priced at £5–£8 and average baskets of £40, the platform combines creator discovery with a meaningful cold-chain fulfillment layer. The model uses active chefs, menu availability, orders per dish, and average meal price to build transaction value. A blended take rate converts GMV into revenue, while logistics and fulfillment costs create the contribution-margin bridge. Customer repeat orders, chef activation, basket size, and delivery density are the primary sensitivities. ## What's included - 5-year monthly revenue build with stage-appropriate growth assumptions - Full P&L, headcount plan, and operating-expense schedule - Cash-flow statement, runway, and burn-rate tracking - Valuation via exit multiple with a DCF cross-check - Returns analysis with MOIC and IRR - Unit economics including CAC, LTV, payback, and cohort retention ## Product & value proposition - 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. ## Market - 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 ## Revenue model - 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 ## Traction & metrics 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 ## Unit economics - 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%. ## Competition / moat - 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 & funding ask / use of funds 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 --- ## Recommended financial model **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 ## Frequently asked questions ### Is the HomeCooks financial model free? Yes. The HomeCooks model is a free Excel download with live formulas. ### Can I change the assumptions? Yes. The workbook is editable and its live formulas recalculate when assumptions change.