Electric Playhouse, the Albuquerque immersive art and entertainment company, announced Tuesday it opened a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for its upcoming expansion to Las Vegas, Nevada, which its CEO said is nearing completion.
Brandon Garrett, Electric Playhouse's CEO, told Albuquerque Business First that construction on the company's installation in the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace, which it announced in early February, is "about 70% complete." He said the new location could open in late July or early August.
Getting that new location up and running could cost around $5 million, Garrett told Business First when the company announced the expansion. All the money raised through the Wefunder crowdfunding campaign — which has pulled in $8,000 so far — is going toward that cost, he said.
The campaign has a minimum investment set at $100, and it comes with different merchandise and ticket perks depending on the level of investment, Garrett added.
"We've had people ask how they can contribute or if they can invest, and unless you're an accredited investor your options are pretty limited," he said. "Being a venue that's really all ages and focused on play and community, that is really the driver of this so that everyone can get that opportunity [to invest]."
It's the first time Electric Playhouse has raised money through crowdfunding, Garrett said. The company raised $5 million through a Series A funding round — a round typically aimed at helping proven startup companies grow — and has pulled in around $2.5 million in additional investor funding, he said.
With construction on the new Las Vegas installation nearing completion, Garrett said Electric Playhouse could begin hiring some senior management positions, like an event sales director and general manager, for the location over the course of the next month.
Plans for that new location — the Albuquerque company's first physical expansion — include fine dining options and a full kitchen and bar, a range of different interactive and immersive games and customizable venue rentals for private events.
But the Sin City might not be the last expansion destination for Electric Playhouse, which was founded in 2018. Garrett told Business First the company is in the "very early explorations" for several future locations in cities in neighboring states to New Mexico like Colorado and Texas, as well as spots in California.
Those future locations could be more on the scale of Electric Playhouse's Albuquerque venue at around 20,000 to 30,000 square feet, Garrett said — whereas the soon-to-be-open Las Vegas is around 10,000 square feet.
"We've had a lot of success with community support, and this just takes it to another level," Garrett said about the crowdfunding campaign. "[Supporters] can actually be part of that process and participate in a way that they normally can't do without a crowdfunding platform."
