Welcome to Back or Bolt, a newsletter highlighting what is happening in the world of early-stage investing/crowdfunding. I’ll provide a curated list of what’s new in the crowdfunding space around the world and one deep dive into a company of interest, then it is up to you if you decide to BACK OR BOLT!
The DEEP DIVE - Carlichauns vs. Tweedy & Fluff
This week I wanted to compare two different opportunities in the same space, children’s programming.
The Good ✅
Carlichauns ☘️
A modern-spin on the tale of the Carlingford Leprechauns, creating an ecosystem combining an animated show, an augmented reality app, games, and books.
Funds will be used for series production with Wasabi Entertainment, build their YouTube community with TeamFalco, and licensing and merchandising with Retail Monster.
The augmented reality app was #1 in the app store during a trial over Saint Patrick’s week.
Keith Chapman, the creator of Paw Patrol and Bob the Builder, is an Executive Producer.
Tim Patterson (CCO) has experience at Nickelodeon & Disney.
Target of €1.3m has been met (primarily by one donor who committed ~€1m).
This trailer shows the vision for the project.
Backed by Enterprise Ireland (who have a 250k convertible loan, which will convert into shares at a 20% discount to the current share price at the end of this raise).
Tweedy & Fluff ☁️
Bafta-nominated stop motion production being sold across 70 countries.
They create lower-stimulation content for Kids, which is growing in demand due to concerns around children’s screen-time and addiction.
Share price of £2 with a pre-money valuation of £8.1m.
Debt-free business, with a non-recoupable BFI grant of £1m.
750k followers across social media and 200m views across social media and giphy.
After a successful first season they are raising funds for a second series.
Plans to expand into licensing and merchandise, to meet existing demand by fans for products (76% of first collectible drop sold within 48 hours).
Trying to capitalise on the growing ‘Kidult’ market.
Generating revenues through licensing with Paris-based distributor Miam, with negotiations underway to enter new territories.
The aim is to grow the brand, and then convert fan engagement into revenues through D2C plush, collectibles and digital products via licensing agreements.
The Bad 🚩
Carlichauns ☘️
Share price of €78.62 for a €15m valuation - seems unbelievably high for something that has very little traction and is pre-revenue, espeically when compared to Tweedy & Fluff which is further along the path but has a valuation of half the size.
Poor YouTube and social media presence with a trailer that was launched 2 years ago and only has 100 views.
Enterprise Ireland convertible note will have a dilutive effect at close.
Yet to secure an actual broadcast deal (however there are 8 Letters of Interest from broadcast platforms across 160 territories.).
Tweedy & Fluff ☁️
Revenues have decreased substantially from £716k in 2023, to £635k in 2024, and most recently £17k in 2025. Not entirely unexpected due to production cycles in TV, but significant and shows cashflows are unpredictable.
Based on FY25 revenues and current pre-money valuation, it implies P/E of 460x.
Season 2 is contingent on acquiring third-party financing, so isn’t guaranteed to go ahead even with the Crowdcube raise.
Back or bolt?
⚡This is basically taking a punt on unknown, unproven IP, compared to an established brand, which has had critical success.
My concerns with the Carlichauns is that they are yet to prove that there is demand for the brand. While the trailer was interesting, there hasn’t been anything since, and even the response to that was lukewarm at best. The AR app feels like misguided focus, which should have been directed at creating the actual product, which is the Carlichauns show. The valuation also seems too high, based on their current status.
While there is definitely some expertise amongst the team, Keith Chapman as an Executive Producer is very different to him being a creator, and feels more like someone lending their famous name to add legitimacy to a project rather than being one of their key focuses.
On the other hand, Tweedy & Fluff are revenue-generating, have a plan to grow the brand first (which there is clearly demand for, as shown by the success on their socials and the first season) and then expand into merchandise. The characters themselves remind me of JellyCats, which have also seen a huge rise in popularity over the past few years, which might indicate that there is demand for these types of collectibles.
The problem with Tweedy & Fluff is that their revenues plummeted in FY25, with no set timeline for when series 2 will release and revenues are expected to recover. Secondly, despite the raise, there is still a requirement for external funding for series 2 to occur, which may make the whole Crowdcube raise redundant.
If I had to back one, for me it would be Tweedy & Fluff (this is my personal view and not investment advice). I think on this occasion, however, I am going to BOLT from both. Tweedy & Fluff have some work to do to bridge the gap between attention and revenues, but both are asking for heavy valuations based on the hope that they can monetise their IPs. Although maybe after I watch an episode of Tweedy & Fluff this weekend I might decide to chuck £10 their way.
The Round Up 🌏
These are also on my radar this week. If you’d like me to analyse any of these in a future Deep Dive, be sure to let me know.
United Kingdom/Europe 🇬🇧 🇪🇺
SocialTalk - Portugal | B2B SaaS | Agentic AI platform for influencer marketing with 200M+ creator profiles | €130k ARR (2025), 20,000 users across 25 countries | €10m pre-money valuation | €16.39 share price | Min. nominee investment €32.78
The Heat Vault - UK | Clean Energy | Subterranean thermal energy storage for surplus renewables & waste heat | ~£2.1m Halmstad project underway, funded by Swedish Energy Agency | Equity + EIS 30% tax relief | £45m pre-money valuation | £1.01722 share price | Min. investment £10.18 | 2.49% investment fee + 5% carry
United States 🇺🇸
Lambda | AI Infrastructure | GPU cloud provider and elite NVIDIA partner | $520m revenue (2025), 100k+ customer sign-ups, $1.5bn+ Series E raised | Secondary (pre-IPO, Series D-1 preferred) | ~£4bn GBP valuation | £47.95 share price | Min. investment ~£1,007 | 5% investment fee + 5% carry
Zapier | SaaS / iPaaS | Market-leading no-code workflow automation platform | $420m ARR (Q1 2026), 3.8m users, ~$5bn valuation | Secondary (pre-IPO, indirect exposure) | £3.4bn GBP valuation | £111 share price | Min. investment £1,110 | 5% investment fee + 5% carry
Funk Harbour Rum - USA | Consumer Spirits | Authentic Jamaican rum brand founded by UFC champion Aljamain Sterling | 2025 WSWA gold medal winner; 728k+ Instagram followers | Equity (Reg CF, non-voting) | $1 share price | Min. investment $100 | Funding goal $1m | Founded July 2025
Metaintro - USA | HR Tech | AI-powered job platform aggregating 50M+ listings; workforce intelligence for government programs | $500k ARR, 1.8M active users, $6m contracted value | Equity (Reg CF) | $40m pre-money valuation | $1 share price | Min. investment $100
Lumida Wealth - USA | Fintech / Wealth Management | AI-powered wealth platform targeting next-gen investors | ~$3.1m FY2025 revenue (6x YoY growth), <$150m AUM | Equity (Reg CF) | $75m pre-money valuation | $96.72 minimum investment
Australia/New Zealand 🇦🇺 🇳🇿
Cannaponics | Medicinal Cannabis | Vertically integrated seed-to-sale cannabis platform with EU-GMP manufacturing | $38m+ invested in infrastructure; $6m current annual revenue from diversified assets; first cannabis harvest approaching | Equity (CSF) | Min. investment A$250 (sophisticated investors required above A$10k)
The Scorecard:
Backs: 1 - Bolts: 3 (+2 this week)
The Fund:
That’s all for now, gotta bolt and get back to it! ⚡
DISCLAIMER - This newsletter is not financial advice, and should not be used as such. It is for information purposes only. Every investment has risks and you should do your own due diligence or discuss with a financial advisor before investing. Early-stage investing is higher risk and you may lose everything you put in. It is also highly illiquid, meaning your investment is not easily accessible if you need the funds at short notice.