The company is developing a new tent called the Crua Hybrid that can be folded to become a hammock, a sleeping bag, or a ...
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Disclosures & Disclaimers
Problem
Sleeping outdoors can be extremely uncomfortable
The thought of a bad night's sleep in a tent is a major problem for campers, and prospective campers. Always Too Hot, Too Cold, Too Noisy, Too Bright. The discomfort of sleeping outdoors negatively impacts the camper's experience & contributes to less enjoyable camping trips.
Sources: Crua Outdoors Market Research, 2022
Solution
CRUA – Sleep Easy. Live Wild.
Insulated tents provide a more comfortable camping experience by regulating the temperature inside the tent. This results in a better night’s sleep and a more pleasant camping experience overall.
Crua Technology
CruaBreatheTM Technology uses microfiber-dense fabric to resist the conductive flow of heat. While the lining may be super thin, it does a great job of retaining the heat generated by you and your camping companions inside your tent when it's cold, or blocking the heat from outdoors out when it's hot. The Culla Series has the CruaBreatheTM Technology at its core.
Sources: Crua, 2023
Product
Crua's Culla series offers the best night's sleep in the wild
Feedback from our Community
“CRUA has changed camping for the better! - I now have several of the CRUA products including the xTent, the CRUA Culla Solo, the CRUA Haul and the CRUA Culla MAXX. Everything is of the highest quality and works exactly as designed. It has completely changed my camping experience. Thanks.”
“Amazing Tents - Love the products. I own a Duo and a Clan. Durable, stable, weatherproof and comfortable. They are an amazing value. If my needs grow I would certainly buy Crua products again. I highly recommend these tents.”
“Crua Fan - Crua fan! We got our Crua Loj 3 years ago. And we just love it. We're about to order a Crua Duo tent and 2 sleep systems. We can't recommend their products enough. We had 1 minor issue with the Loj and their excellent customer service left us very satisfied! Thank you!”
Sources: Crua, 2023
Traction
Solid foundations — primed for accelerated growth
- CRUA generated $2.4M+ revenue in 2021
- Gross margin grew to around 65% in 2022
- 20,000 customers in over 100 countries globally
- Around 70% of CRUA's revenue was from North American customers in 2021
Equity Crowdfunding
CRUA has incorporated Equity Crowdfunding into our strategy, right from our inception. Since the start, our community has been central in everything we do.
Product Crowdfunding
Product launch platforms are a perfect way for us to garner interest levels in our designs before committing to big orders. It also helps ensure that we get payment before placing orders, thus limiting risk. The platforms also help build brand awareness.
Financial Projections
Crua Projected Milestones
The above projections constitute forward-looking statements involving known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual outcomes to differ from the above projections. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The cautionary statements set forth in the Offering Memorandum, including in the “Risk Factors” section and elsewhere, identify important factors that you should consider in evaluating our forward-looking statements, including these projections.
Sources: Seedrs, 2023; Backerkit, 2023; Crua, 2023
Customers
The outdoor comfort seekers
We now have a very detailed view of who our customer is. This is going to be crucial during the upcoming scaling phase, as micro targeting is an important part of our short-to-medium term growth strategy.
Customer insights |
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Customer Reviews
“Outstanding Product and Exceptional Customer Service - I love my Crua Duo been using it over a year now and snapped the vestibule porch pole. Contacted customer service and Tara was great got me a replacement within a week. Can't say enough good about this company. The tent is awesome, been thru torrential rains, wind and never a problem, just my clumsy mistake breaking the pole. No problem they gladly sent me a new one. Topnotch service.”
“Great Experience with the Crua Folks - They really took care of our family and we can’t wait to use our tent. We purchased the cottage and it was a very straight forward set up, beautiful tent and meets all our needs. We were in a bind to meet a deadline for a camping trip and Tarah from Crua made it happen. Thanks so much !”
“I love Crua! - Everything I have purchased so far from Crua has been awesome (AER rooftop tent, cold day bundle, HoverChair, tarp poles, severe weather stakes). All of the items are well made and show a high level of attention to detail. I had to contact customer service for an item that was damaged in shipping and they were lovely. Quickly had a replacement out to me with no hassle. I love their products and look forward to buying more in the future.”
Sources: Statista UK, 2020; Crua Outdoors Market Research, 2022; Trustpilot, 2023; Amazon US, 2023
Business model
Direct-to-consumer omnichannel approach
CRUA’s business model is primarily based on direct-to-consumer online sales through our own website — cruaoutdoors.com. Our website recently upgraded to Shopify Plus Enterprise package to enable us to scale up the site.
Other distribution methods (secondary)
We've carefully selected third-party marketplaces and drop-shippers such as Amazon and Bass-Pro to reach consumers. Other distribution channels include brick-and-mortar stores and pop-up shops. We continue to expand our presence at trade shows and through affiliate marketing.
Business plan
As of December 31, 2022, our gross margin was approximately 65%, and we plan to raise this to at least 70% in 2023 or 2024. We'll also aim for a 23% margin or more and wish to break-even at the bottom line in 2023 or 2024. We've prioritized achieving excellent unit economics in 2023.
As of March 31, 2023, our marketing videos, “Winter Camping in a Crua Insulated Tent” and “All Weather Insulated Tent I Crua Tri Tent Camping” created by Kenny Baum, have garnered 3.5M views in aggregate.
We have appointed Thrive Ideas, Inc., d/b/a Thrive Internet Marketing Agency (collectively, with its related entities, Thrive) as our marketing agency. | We also recently launched our affiliate marketing program on AvantLink, a platform known for its outdoor affiliate community. |
Throughout 2023, we plan to scale our marketing efforts to increase revenue. Our marketing budget is projected to be around 20% of revenues for the fiscal year ending in 2023.
Target consumers
We primarily target consumers who are mostly in the US, male, 40+ y/o, professional, and with an above average disposable income. We anticipate that price sensitivity is less important to this population than premium quality, performance, and service. We believe our unique selling points – climate regulation and modularity – will allow us to dominate this portion of the camping equipment market. We plan to further our R&D facility to pursue this goal.
We have chosen the US as our primary market, as this is the most significant source of our organic interest. Additionally, the US is a huge geographic market. The size and varying climates across its geographic regions mean we can garner year-round interest in our products. We offer an advantage when it’s normally too hot to camp — Crua keeps campers cooler.
Sources: Baum Outdoors, 2023; Crua Outdoors Market Research, 2022
Market
A strong & growing sector
Outdoor recreation is an enormous sector, which in turn offers CRUA a brilliant opportunity to disrupt and grow quickly, based on solving a very widespread problem.
We plan to establish our North American headquarters in Austin, Texas in 2023. We believe that the Texas base will be a great platform to scale our business in North America, Crua's primary market.
"As a part of a visit to Texas to mark St. Patrick's Day, Minister for Sport & Physical Education, Thomas Byrne T.D., officially launched Enterprise Ireland client company, CRUA's, new presence in Austin, alongside Crua’s Chief Operations Officer, Dermot Moriarty. CRUA, with a headquarters in Co. Kerry, offers insulated, climate-regulating tents to customers across North America, and their new Austin presence is a significant step forward on their US growth journey. Our Enterprise Ireland Austin team is delighted to welcome our newest client company to the Lone Star state, and look forward to partnering together as Crua continue to scale in the United States."
- Ruairí Breathnach, Enterprise Ireland USA
American consumers spend more on outdoor recreation than they do on pharmaceuticals and fuel!
Serviceable market opportunity
According to Statista, 2023, "Worldwide Camping Market Revenue is projected to reach US$43.89bn in 2023, and is expected to show an annual growth rate (CAGR 2023-2027) of 9.12%, resulting in a projected market volume of US$62.23bn by 2027."
With estimated market penetration of 2% of the projected worldwide camping market revenue for 2023, at average cart size of $377.10, CRUA's Opportunity is valued at $878M.
With CRUA Culla Recommended Retail Price (RRP) at $579.99 this would mean 1.5M Cullas worldwide.
...and this opportunity does not include the Tent Retrofit Market which our design enables!
Sources: Statista, 2022; Kampgrounds of America, Inc. 2022; Forbes, 2018; Crua Outdoors Market Research, 2022; Outdoor Industry, 2020
Competition
CRUA's unique selling propositions are climate regulation & modularity
CRUA's Unique Selling Propositions are Climate Regulation and Modularity — hence CRUA doesn’t really have direct competitors. However, we view all premium tent brands as both indirect competition and opportunities, as our Cullas can fit inside most other branded tents which is a perfect marketing angle. ‘Upgrade your current camping set-up with a CRUA's Culla Series’. We want to do for tents, what Yeti has done for the cooler market.
Sources: Crua, 2023
Vision and strategy
Provide campers everywhere with the best night's sleep in the wild
Focus. CRUA’s vision is clear and concise — to provide campers everywhere with the best night's sleep in the wild!
We’ve already developed a range of products that help do that, and strategically we’re going to focus very much on this and become the ‘owners’ of this particular space.
2023/2024 are primarily about brand ignition and increased brand and product awareness, which in turn will drive manageable growth. Initiatives include premium content creation, pop-up events, paid and earned media acceleration and influencer marketing. Paid media alone is proving an expensive way of acquiring customers. Hence we’re putting a lot of focus on brand building and building our community. This will involve the documenting of R&D, Pop-Ups so people can get their hands on our products, Ambassador and Affiliate Marketing, and the creation of potentially viral content.
We will continue to drive innovation as one of our key pillars.
We’re also looking to source some products closer in Mexico which offers the advantages of being closer to our primary market. This would reduce lead times and cash for stock requirements significantly. It also diversifies future reliance on the east.
It’s very much a re-focus time on our key USP in our key geography. This is where the potential lies and where our potential growth is.
We plan to break even in 2023 and be profitable in 2024.
Sources: Trustpilot, 2023
Impact
Nurturing a community
At CRUA, we support charitable organizations in the United States, United Kingdom, and Ireland through fundraising, product donations, and give-back campaigns.
BIG CITY MOUNTAINEERS
Big City Mountaineers (BCM) harness the transformative power of nature to cultivate a generation of young people who carry increased compassion for themselves, their communities, and the world around them. BCM focuses on breaking down barriers of access to the outdoors for youth from communities that have historically lacked equitable access to nature.
TÍR NA NÓG
Tír na nÓg's mission is to enhance the quality of life of the children in their care, who have been orphaned or abandoned. To invest in these children – the leaders of tomorrow – through education and guidance.
BRITISH EXPLORING SOCIETY
British Exploring Society delivers exceptional learning through exploration with life-defining impact to an increasing number and diversity of young people.
Sources: Big City Mountaineers, 2023; British Exploring Society, 2023; Tír na nÓg, 2023
Funding
More than $4M raised to date
Existing shareholders include:
Mark Blandford
Mark Blandford is the founder of Sportingbet PLC., at one time the world's largest bookmaking operation and a pioneer in online gambling. Blandford is also the former Chairman and CEO. After Sportingbet, Mark managed a venture capital fund focusing on the leisure sector and he's currently a partner at Burlywood Capital.
Guy Carling
Guy Carling has served as a Non- Executive Director of the Company since 2022. Guy has also served as an executive of Monster Energy Company for the last 15 years, and currently serves as their President of EMEA. As President of EMEA, Guy oversees the sales, development and expansion in markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Previously, Guy served as Chief Commercial Officer and Managing Director of EMEA at Monster Energy Company. Before that, he was the Marketing Director for Red Bull in the UK. Mr. Carling has worked in the beverage business for over 25 years.
Point Positive
Point Positive is dedicated to establishing entrepreneurial businesses in the Greater Adirondack Region by giving aspiring professionals the support they need to start or accelerate their business and create jobs that also help our communities to thrive. We accomplish this through mentoring and education, raising awareness about economic vitality and business opportunities, and by assembling angel investors who can provide start-up and growth funding.
Enterprise Ireland
Enterprise Ireland is the government organization responsible for the development and growth of Irish enterprises in world markets. We work in partnership with Irish enterprises to help them start, grow, innovate, and win export sales in global markets. In this way, we support sustainable economic growth, regional development, and secure employment.
Seedrs
Seedrs is an online equity crowdfunding company, headquartered in East London's Tech City, founded in 2009 and launched by Jeff Lynn and Carlos Silva in 2012. Since 2022, it has been a subsidiary of the American crowdfunding company Republic.
Sources: Enterprise Ireland, 2023; Point Positive, Inc, 2023; Seedrs, 2023.
Founders
Derek O'Sullivan
Founder, CEO & Chairman
Derek founded Crua in 2015 to solve a problem that he had encountered himself. Coming from an engineering background and educated to post-graduate level, he went about designing a tent that would offer him a much better night's sleep, and Crua was born.
Calling on his work experience which included design for Liebherr, acting as Director for a specialist insulation company, and working in project management for various symbol groups, Derek went about building a trusted company and brand that is now beginning to become known in the sector.
Chris Brennan
CCO
Chris Brennan has been with Crua since 2018 and is currently the Chief Commercial Officer. Chris is responsible for overseeing its sales and marketing as well as leading technical implementation and research and development. Chris is an experienced Business Operations Manager with a proven track record of managing daily operations by utilizing creative skills and leveraging past project management experience. Chris previously served as Operations Manager and Graphic Designer at Aran Sweater Market, led donor recruitment initiatives at a non-profit community blood bank, and worked for PHH Mortgage for a number of years before then.
Vincent O'Brien
Non Executive Director
Vinny is a Director of the Company, having served in this role since 2019. He is responsible for Crua’s designs and executing the Company’s global ecommerce omni-channel strategies. Vinny has experience helping businesses grow operationally and functionally in order to deliver sustainable growth as part of their overall ecommerce strategies. He has a background working in various vertical markets, including automotive, outdoors, fashion, hard goods, and home. Vinny has a strong operational focus with a view to always build with scale and sustainability.
John Gannon
CFO
John Gannon is the Chief Financial Officer of Crua, having served in this role since 2020. John has a background working with business leaders who understand the value an experienced senior finance and operations professional can bring to the growth of their businesses. As a qualified accountant, John has worked as CFO and Financial Director to a number of international companies, and is perfectly positioned to guide Crua through its growth phase with regard to financial strategy and compliance while also being aware of commercial strategy.
Dermot Moriarty
COO
Dermot has served as Crua’s Chief Operations Officer since 2022, and oversees the Company’s ongoing business operations. Before becoming its Chief Operations Officer, Dermot was Crua’s Warehouse and Logistics Manager. Dermot has over 16 years of experience in the retail and warehousing environments, serving in a number of management positions prior to joining Crua. He brings to the Company a wide range of experience and works hard to develop rapport and maintain relationships with suppliers and clients.
Summary
Founder's Note
“I founded CRUA in 2014 to solve a problem that had been bugging me since my childhood. Why did tents have to be so cold, hot, bright, noisy — so uncomfortable? Why couldn’t they insulate the occupants properly? I always felt that the lack of a good night’s sleep had a negative impact on my outdoor experiences, and I was not alone. Fast forward a couple of decades, and today CRUA has supplied 20,000+ climate-regulating products into more than 100 countries — and we’re just getting started! Our team would like to welcome you to our community, where passion for the outdoors and comfort are one.”
- Derek O’ Sullivan, CEO & Founder, CRUA