Eat My Lunch crowdfunds new bond offer

Michael Meredith of Eat My Lunch shares some of his cooking skills with Moeroa Tavai, 7, (left) and Betsy Fifita, 8, from Mangere Central School in Auckland. Photo / Dean Purcell

Social enterprise Eat My Lunch has launched a crowd-lending campaign seeking $1 million in bonds.

Eat My Lunch, which celebrated its first birthday this month, says it is the first company in New Zealand to launch such a peer-to-peer lending campaign on PledgeMe.

The "buy-one-give-one" initiative aims to tackle child hunger for under-privileged children. For every lunch bought, the company gives a free lunch to a child who would otherwise go hungry at school.

The bonds programme aims to raise $1 million to assist in an overhaul of its digital service, an expansion to Wellington and a new Eat My Dinner offer.

The bonds programme has two options and a minimum offer of $1000. The first pays out interest of 6 per cent per annum and for every $1,000 borrowed, Eat My Lunch will give an additional lunch to a schoolkid every month.

The second offers no interest, but for every $1,000 invested two lunches will be given to kids every month.

The Lunch Bonds have a term of five years and if the company raises $1 million it wil;l be equivalent to 30,000 additional lunches being given.

The campaign has raised $195,500 so far, but needs to reach the minimum target of $500,000 in 15 days for the programme to be funded.

Since its inception a year ago, Eat My Lunch has made over 325,000 lunches and Given 180,000 lunches to kids in 32 low decile schools. It forecasts it will make 500,000 lunches this year and donate 250,000 of those to children.

The company, led by founders Lisa King and Iaan Buchanan, along with chef Michael Meredith, needs $1 million to expand into Wellington, creae an e-commerce engine and automate logistics.

Tech entrepreneur Derek Handley joined the business last month as an adviser and investor.