Equitise raises $211k in first campaign

Equitise gained authorisation to operate from the Financial Markets Authority in December.

Equity crowd-funding platform Equitise has closed its first campaign after successfully raising $211,000 for Tourism Radio NZ.

The company, which provides location-specific digital travel guide commentary through mobile devices in motor homes and rental cars, says it will use the cash to develop technology, expand its sales force and prepare the business for expansion into Australia.

The 30 investors that took part in the crowd-funding campaign, which valued the firm at $1.2 million, now hold a combined stake of 18.2 per cent in Tourism Radio.

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The company, which had revenue of over $950,000 last year, said the investment would drive future revenue growth of 50 per cent year-on-year.

Equitise managing director Jonny Wilkinson said the platform had received a lot of interest from potential issuers since completing its first campaign.

"People have obviously seen that out first deal has closed [successfully] and that has provided some certainty and surety in people's minds," he said.

Equitise gained authorisation to operate from the Financial Markets Authority in December.

Wilkinson said Equitise expected to announce its second campaign within the next few weeks.

Equity crowd-funding, which became possible in New Zealand last year through a once-in-a-generation overhaul of securities legislation, allows companies to issue shares to the public through online platforms.

More than $7 million has been raised by three local equity crowd-funding providers - Snowball Effect, PledgeMe and Equitise - since August.