Cruso is a Belgian brand with the ambition to represent Belgian furniture design with a high level of quality. The materials used are mostly natural and of selected local origin : 100% made in EU. Thereby improving the durability, long term value and circular value of all our products. Cruso values bring together outstanding designers with the finest craftsmen, with the aim to improve the client experience with design products.

After a fundraising of €63,000, we’ve decided to catch the feedback from Olivier Stévenart, associate and founder of the brand and Lionel Slusny, Head of Finance at CRUSO, responsible for the financing and implementation of all the management processes.

For Olivier and Lionel, "Spreds has a very organized team, with specialists who have very clear responsibilities which allowed us to always get our questions answered. We quickly understood also that we had to organise ourselves internally and organise the planning on our side in order to reach the objectives that were set. We would have liked to be able to raise more funds through participative financing - we now have more than 100,000 EUR available in Tax Shelter for the next investors who wish to further reduce their taxes and join the capital of the company. We appreciated the flexibility and understanding of the Spreds teams regarding the context of the business."

According to Lionel, a public fundraising is the opportunity:

As for the reasons for the success of the campaign, Lionel and Olivier believe that they had a transparent strategy with long-term investors who gave their trust to the company very early on. “Participative financing was a nice addition to these investors and it is the trust generated by professional investors that has allowed more mainstream investors to make up their minds. In addition, good visual communication about company values is also important to enable everyone to quickly understand the purpose of the project” says Lionel.

CRUSO wants to become a Belgian reference brand in the field of Lifestyle & Design. "We will develop the brand to an international professional clientele (points of sale, project managers, B2B, real estate projects, ...) - in more than 11 countries; and in parallel, establish connections on new continents in order to prepare the growth for the big export. The goal will be to establish strong and lasting relationships with several agents to develop the brand and position it in a more innovative dynamic within interior designing. We also wish to innovate more on products, natural materials, and the recognisable line of CRUSO" explains Lionel.

According to CRUSO, fundraising is built around a strategic project and business development. The project must be very understandable for a wider range of investors, especially when it comes to investors from the general public or those less familiar with the industry. "In our case, we know that many people have difficulty understanding the growth potential and mechanisms in the furniture industry and that’s why we finally had to offer additional guarantees.

 We must think in financial terms and make sure that the economic project and the creation of value will allow the investor to achieve a great added value. It's the best business card when raising money. And lastly, we must respect the risk that the investors are taking by trusting our company and the management team" explain Olivier and Lionel.