How Bancone Secured £880K Investment and Tripled Its Sites With Robot Mascot’s Help

This is the story of how Bancone (with a little help from Robot Mascot) cooked up a pitch deck so enticing that they overfunded their £700k target by 126%, netting £880k investment – ready to triple their sites.

Prepare to be served a generous helping of inspiration, strategy and the secret sauce behind Bancone’s meteoric rise and how they continue to build on that momentum.

From an idea to a London dining phenomenon

Bancone wasn’t born from corporate strategy or market research. It was born from passion. In 2016, founder William Ellner, already steeped in hospitality through his family business, Joanna’s in Crystal Palace, recognised a gap in the London dining scene. Pasta was either an afterthought on mainstream menus or served in high-end restaurants with equally high prices. There was little middle ground: no place serving high-quality, freshly made pasta in a relaxed, accessible setting.

“We wanted to bring pasta into the everyday in a buzzy, central London space,” explains William. “I wanted to bring fine dining quality to the scale, pace and price of the casual dining market, which means our menu is full of flavour and expertise, but the dishes are affordable, and the experience can be as quick or as long as you wish.”

By 2018, Ellner’s vision had materialised in the form of Bancone’s first restaurant in Covent Garden. The concept was simple but compelling: Michelin-quality dishes, casual prices and an engaging, interactive dining experience. Customers would sit at one of three bars, watching chefs roll, shape and cook pasta before their eyes. It was pasta theatre – and it worked.

The restaurant quickly gained traction. Social media lit up with images of their signature silk handkerchiefs, while food critics praised their inventive takes on Italian classics. Ellner stated: “Our ‘Silk Handkerchiefs with walnut butter and confit egg yolk’ is our surprise hit. We make around 200 portions of it per day. It’s great for social media as it’s a visually arresting dish. We love it!”

A Michelin Bib Gourmand followed, cementing Bancone’s reputation. But this was just the start. Ellner and his team knew they had the foundation for something bigger. To scale, they needed investment. And that’s when they turned to Robot Mascot.

The challenge: communicating ambition with clarity

Bancone wasn’t just looking for money – they were looking for partners. They needed to craft a pitch that would resonate with investors who believed in the business’s long-term potential. The challenge lay in translating their culinary success into investment appeal. They needed to show not only how they had succeeded but also how they would scale while maintaining quality, consistency and profitability.

Robot Mascot’s Perfect Pitch process provided exactly that. Working closely with Bancone’s leadership, we sought to capture the essence of their business while addressing investors’ core concerns. Could they replicate their success across multiple sites? Could the business maintain margins amid rising costs? And crucially, did the numbers tell a growth story worth backing?

Our approach: structure, strategy and storytelling

Investment pitches are part numbers, part narrative. Our first step was to establish a structure that showcased Bancone’s strengths while addressing potential objections head-on. We focused on three key elements:

1. The narrative:

Bancone’s story was compelling: a successful concept in central London with a proven track record and untapped potential. We positioned this narrative front and centre, emphasising the strength of their brand, the loyalty of their customer base and their ambition to become the go-to name for quality pasta in the UK.

2. The financials:

Investors needed to see that Bancone was more than a culinary success – it was a robust, scalable business. We dug deep into their financial performance, highlighting their steady turnover, positive EBITDA and the impressive margins they had maintained despite industry-wide cost pressures. We also modelled future growth scenarios to illustrate the potential returns for investors.

3. The vision:

Expansion wasn’t just a hopeful idea, it was a strategic plan grounded in solid research. The pitch deck detailed the logic behind their chosen locations, the operational systems supporting scale and their plans for long-term growth.

The campaign: standing out on Crowdcube

Crowdcube is crowded. To stand out, Bancone’s pitch needed more than solid numbers – it needed personality. And so they came to Robot Mascot who created a compelling investor pitch deck.

The results were remarkable. Bancone initially set out to raise £700,000. By the end of the CrowdCube campaign, they had secured over £880,000 from 886 investors – 126% of their original target. The funds paved the way for the opening of their third site in Borough Yards, as well as laying the groundwork for future growth.

Growth beyond the raise

Securing funding is one thing. Putting it to work effectively is another. Bancone did both.

Bancone has managed to maintain its attractive price point, with an average spend per guest hovering around £30, while simultaneously achieving a healthy food margin of 76% year-to-date. This balance between affordability and profitability underscores the company’s efficient operations and strong market positioning.

Their November 2024 ‘Investor Update’ explained that, in the first eight months of FY25, their sales reached £5.9m – a 31% increase on the previous year. Much of this growth came from their Borough Yards site, which delivered a 32% year-on-year increase. More importantly, profitability soared. EBITDA hit £626k, more than doubling the previous year’s figure.

This wasn’t growth for growth’s sake. Every decision reflected a focus on sustainable expansion. For example, a modest refurbishment in Covent Garden added just six new covers – a seemingly small change, but one that increased capacity by 9%, driving noticeable uplifts in turnover.

The secret to success: balancing creativity with discipline

Bancone’s growth offers a lesson for any entrepreneur: creative passion needs to be matched by operational discipline. Throughout their journey, they maintained a sharp focus on cost control. Even as ingredient costs surged across the industry, Bancone preserved a 76.3% gross margin by negotiating smartly with suppliers and maintaining operational efficiency.

Equally impressive was their ability to keep the customer experience consistent. Menu innovations – like the newly launched Cornish crab cappellacci – kept diners curious, while beloved classics remained untouched. The balance of novelty and nostalgia has kept Bancone’s tables full, week after week.

What investors saw: a vision backed by substance

So why did nearly a thousand investors decide to back Bancone? The answer lies in the clarity of the pitch – and the reality behind it. Robot Mascot helped crystallise the factors that made Bancone a smart investment:

• Proven concept: Two sites were already successful, with a third poised to replicate that success.
• Financial strength: Steady sales growth and positive EBITDA demonstrated a solid financial footing.
• Clear strategy: A detailed, realistic plan for opening new sites gave investors confidence in the company’s scalability.
• Market positioning: The brand occupied a distinctive niche: high-quality pasta in an informal setting – a combination few competitors had mastered.

From the outset, we worked closely with Bancone to craft a pitch that would resonate with investors. Through our process, we provided strategic advice, designed a clear and compelling pitch structure, and developed content that communicated the brand’s potential with precision. We didn’t just present numbers – we told the story of Bancone’s journey, achievements, and vision for the future in a way that felt both authentic and commercially compelling.

Our team helped Bancone identify and highlight the core elements that set them apart: their multi-award-winning status, their track record of profitability across multiple London sites, and their unique positioning of Michelin-quality food at casual dining prices. We structured the pitch to showcase the business’s growth trajectory and future plans, while ensuring the financial projections were easy to understand and clearly tied to their strategy.

The design phase was equally important. We created a professional, visually engaging deck that aligned with Bancone’s brand identity and conveyed a sense of ambition and confidence. This attention to detail gave investors the reassurance they needed to commit their capital.

The results were clear. The pitch didn’t just attract attention – it inspired action. Bancone overfunded their £700,000 target by 126%, ultimately raising £882,461 from 868 investors. The funds enabled them to launch a new site and laid the foundations for their ambitious expansion, which has since seen them triple their number of restaurants across London.

Investors backed Bancone because they saw more than great pasta – they saw a business with a clear growth strategy, solid financials, and a compelling vision for the future. And Robot Mascot helped make that vision impossible to ignore.

The road ahead: more plates, more pasta, more growth

As of February 2025, Bancone is celebrating its sixth consecutive year of being awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand. What better sign of sustained quality and growth?

And Bancone’s journey is far from over. With their latest site in Borough Yards thriving, they are now preparing to open a new restaurant in Kensington. Heads of terms have been agreed and the site is expected to open in early 2025. Beyond that, conversations are underway for potential locations in Notting Hill, Mayfair, Holborn and Chelsea.

The company isn’t chasing expansion recklessly. Every new site is chosen with care, ensuring it aligns with their brand identity and operational strengths. Their ambition is clear: to make Bancone a household name in the UK’s casual dining scene while maintaining the culinary excellence that made their first site so successful.

A partnership built on shared ambition

Reflecting on the collaboration, William Ellner describes the process as “transformational.” The investment they raised has not only funded new sites but also sharpened their approach to growth. Working with Robot Mascot forced them to articulate their ambitions clearly, creating a strategic roadmap that continues to guide their decisions today.

As Bancone gears up for its next phase of growth, we at Robot Mascot feel privileged to have played a role in their journey. Pasta, it seems, is just the beginning.

If you’re a founder looking to turn your vision into investment success, get in touch with Robot Mascot today. We’ll help you tell your story, show your numbers and give investors every reason to believe in your potential.