Imbiba invests ‘seven-figure’ sum to fund roll-out of family-focused private members’ club Purple Dragon: Imbiba, the leisure and hospitality focused investment firm, has made an undisclosed “seven-figure” investment in Purple Dragon, to help the family-focused private members' club open its second site in Putney and to fund the roll-out of additional sites, both in the UK and internationally. Purple Dragon was founded in 2008 by former fashion entrepreneur Sharai Meyers, with the current Chelsea site opening for business in 2011. The club has state-of-the-art facilities for music, dance, art, design, cooking, sport and imaginative play for children up to the age of 12, combined with high-quality, informal casual dining and socialising areas for adults. Meyers said: “We are delighted to have Imbiba as our partners in the business. Its expertise as an operationally focused investor and their capabilities across operational finance, property, marketing and management provides us with an incredibly strong platform for growth. Knowing we have the funding in place to push forward the opportunities we’ve been developing over the last year is really exciting.” The new club in Upper Richmond Road, Putney, has the same philosophy and design focus as its big brother in Chelsea, but sits on a smaller urban footprint with a more accessibly-priced membership model. The company plans to roll-out both larger flagship sites and other “little sibling” clubs simultaneously over the next five years, depending on local demographics and footprint. Imbiba has agreed to fund the planned roll-out which is planned across London and rest of the UK, with international roll-out sites already under review in New York and Dubai. Chairman John Connell said: “Purple Dragon is a high-quality business with a strong customer base and great potential for roll-out internationally. Sharai and her team are outstanding operators and the quality of the experience really impressed us. We are delighted to partner with them and help facilitate their growth plans.” Imbiba said the investment was part of its strategy to develop leisure and hospitality businesses within key growth and emerging market segments. It said there has been a substantial acceleration in UK private club membership over the past five years, including in the family market segment and that trend is clearly starting to be reflected globally. It added increasing urbanisation is helping to drive people towards discreet venues outside the home, where they can escape and relax. Imbiba said Purple Dragon is positioned to enable families to enjoy the precious commodity of “time together” in a relaxing, flexible environment and the club provides the familiarity of home comforts with a reliable and consistent quality experience. Founded by former leisure entrepreneurs, the Imbiba team has been investing in the leisure market for nearly 20 years. The team has made 15 investments, with ten exits generating 3.8 times money multiple return and 42% internal rate of return on invested capital. Recent investments by Imbiba include Drake & Morgan, Temper, Darwin & Wallace and Camm & Hooper. Imbiba said it was actively seeking small-cap investment opportunities with entrepreneurs operating profitable UK businesses.