Platform's aim to allow angels to fly into enterprise online

Bill Murphy.

Bay of Plenty start-up funding group Enterprises Angels plans to launch an online crowdfunding platform aimed at eligible investors within the next month.

"The investment world is shifting and changing all the time and we're seeing more and more investment opportunities being made available online," executive director Bill Murphy, told an Enterprise Angels meeting this week.

However, most equity crowdfunding opportunities were open to all. Early stage investments were typically high-risk, with a high failure rate.

Mr Murphy said the Enterprise Angels platform would aim to offer deals that had gone through a strong level of due diligence to a wider platform of qualified investors across New Zealand.

"We saw a real opportunity in the market to take angel-backed high quality investment opportunities that have already had the full scrutiny of Enterprise Angels' and make them available more widely."

The deals would only be available to people who were qualified as eligible investors under New Zealand securities regulations, he said.

Enterprise Angels, which had almost doubled to more than 200 members over the past year, was both numerically and in funding terms the strongest of New Zealand's angel groups and included members from Rotorua, Taupo, Tauranga and Hamilton. Its deals were frequently syndicated through other angel groups around the country.

Mr Murphy said the Angel Association of NZ and other angel groups throughout the country had been kept informed about the proposed platform.

Enterprise Angels had formed a strategic partnership with Tauranga-based Locus Research to develop the platform.

Locus managing director Timothy Allen, who is on the Enterprises Angels board, said that as with other aspects of life, digitisation of funding was occurring because it was easier and more efficient.

New Zealand-based company crowdfunder Snowball already offered an option for qualified wholesale investors, he said.

"Our point of difference is that we will be solely focused on eligible angel investors, and the deals we present will bring the depth of experience and due diligence available through the Enterprise Angels membership and processes," he said.