One barrel trailer can test multiple venue lots before permanent site commitments.
Investor teaser
A mobile sauna brand for Cincinnati before the category heats up.
Cinci Sauna Co. starts with one commercial 4-person barrel sauna, hosted parking-lot pop-ups, and venue partnerships along Greater Cincinnati — all four seasons.
Bars, cafes, liveries, and retreats already have traffic, parking, and bathrooms.
Design input from Sweden becomes a credibility layer, not just a tagline.
The thesis
Greater Cincinnati has wellness demand, river culture, and a missing social sauna ritual.
The current substitute behavior is fragmented: gym saunas, indoor studios, cold-plunge boutiques, brewery events, and outdoor recreation groups. Cinci Sauna connects those behaviors into one repeatable hosted night.
The first wedge is not a large bathhouse. It is a road-ready barrel sauna trailer that can earn demand data across Little Miami, Great Miami, and Ohio River partner lots before any permanent buildout conversation.
First unit
Buy one barrel sauna. Prove venue demand. Then decide what's next.
- Unit: 4-person cedar barrel sauna (6' × 8') with external wood stove and tin roof for mobile durability. ~$8,000.
- Cold setup: contained plunge tub + accessories. ~$1,500.
- Ops kit: towels, safety gear, signage, insurance, and site permits. ~$2,000–$3,000.
- Total demo pilot: under $12k all-in to run first paid sessions at partner lots.
- Proof target: repeated sell-through at two partner venues before considering a larger 6–8 person unit or trailer setup.
The ask
$15k–$25k to launch properly and prove the model.
The demo pilot sauna costs under $10k. The raise covers the unit, cold plunge, ops kit, insurance, first-season marketing, and working capital to run 8–12 weeks of paid pop-ups at partner venues.