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PledgeMe raises $100k in under 24 hours

Published: Wed 19 Nov 2014 12:18 PM
PledgeMe raises $100k in under 24 hours
New Zealand’s crowdfunding platform PledgeMe attracted $100,000 of investment in under 24 hours yesterday.
“PledgeMe is happy to announce our equity crowdfunding campaign reached its maximum funding goal in under a day,” PledgeMe’s Co-founder and CEO Anna Guenther said today.
“Our offer of 30,000 shares went live on Monday night to our crowd and hit our goal at 6:41pm.”
Ms Guenther said the raise would allow PledgeMe to bring on new staff to help grow crowdfunding in New Zealand and to optimise their website for mobile devices.
“We’re now on the search for an equity crowdfunding champion who can educate companies about equity crowdfunding and work with businesses to activate their crowds.
“We’re also looking at new ways we can grow the project crowdfunding space too.
“Wellington City Council won the SBN Renewable Innovation award yesterday for the work we did with them setting up a matched funding scheme for Smart Energy campaigns. We’d love to replicate that type of project support in other local councils.”
“Mobile optimisation of the website will mean more people can easily access our platform more of the time. This is a good move as more and more people move to access our site on mobile devices.”
Ms Guenther said activating your crowd is vital.
“The success of this crowdfunding campaign has come from two years of networking and talking, as well as keeping our crowd informed with what we’re doing.
“Many New Zealand companies have big crowds out there waiting to be activated. Whether it’s the loyal customers or your business networks or even friends and family, there are people out there who want to see your company succeed and share in that success.”
The Chairperson of PledgeMe’s board Nick Lewis said he was proud of the result and urged other companies who are thinking about an equity round to get in contact.
“Congratulations to Anna and the team for a stunning success and setting the bar for equity crowdfunding in New Zealand in terms of speed,” Mr Lewis said.
“This shows the appetite for equity crowdfunding of young companies in New Zealand.
“We encourage companies considering raising equity to come have a chat with us,” Mr Lewis said.
Ms Guenther thanked all of the 50 people who bought shares in PledgeMe, and the rest of her crowd who wanted to buy in but missed out.
“We welcome our 50 new shareholders to the PledgeMe team, thanks for joining our crowd and we’re looking forward to our AGM," Ms Guenther said.
“We’ve had many emails from people who missed out on shares and we’re taking their details in case we do another round of equity crowdfunding.”
Key facts about PledgeMe’s equity crowdfunding round
• Minimum raise goal of $50,000. Maximum raise goal of $100,00
• Number of shares sold: 30,000 (just under 15% of the company)
• Money raised: $100,000
• Number of new shareholders: 50
• Time from campaign launch to close: 23 hours 27 minutes
For more information about equity crowdfunding visit https://www.pledgeme.co.nz/equity
Those interested in the equity crowdfunding champion role can visit http://blog.pledgeme.co.nz/wanted-equity-champion/
Any businesses interested in equity crowdfunding can contact PledgeMe at contact@pledgeme.co.nz
ENDS

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