MEDIA RELEASE
7 JUNE 2019
Australia’s leading Equity Crowdfunding platform Equitise is thrilled to receive the Excellence in Crowdfunding award at the 2019 Fintech Australia Awards (Finnies).
Pioneers in the space, Jonny Wilkinson and Chris Gilbert founded Equitise in 2014 in Australia and New Zealand. Whilst lobbying the government to change the Australian Equity Crowdfunding laws, they ran IPO’s (Initial Public Offerings) and wholesale offers in Australia and retail equity crowdfunding offers in New Zealand. This meant that when retail equity crowdfunding launched in Australia in January 2018, Equitise was the only platform with direct experience.
With combined knowledge across equity capital markets, investment banking and law, the Equitise founders bring diversity and experience to the platform and the companies they support.
Equitise has successfully raised the most out of any platform since January 2018. Co-Founder of Equitise, Jonny Wilkinson says he’s thrilled to see Equitise recognised in the FINNIES awards.
“As an industry Equity Crowdfunding continues to grow and has come a long way since we founded Equitise. We’re thrilled to be at the top of our game and to be awarded by such a reputable outlet such as the FINNIES,” he said.
“Equity Crowdfunding is still a new concept with many Australians still unaware you can invest in exciting early-stage companies. However, the public’s awareness of our industry and our offers continues to grow which makes it both rewarding and a challenge. Equitise is a disruptor and we’re proud to be offering an alternative to traditional means of capital raising giving greater opportunities to both investors and early-stage companies,” says Wilkinson.
To date, Equitise has raised the most funds with over $8.4 million raised via the ‘crowd’ and has been behind some of Australia’s most exciting and cutting edge Equity Crowdfunding campaigns. This includes Endeavour Brewing Co., raising more than $550,000, making it the most successful raise for a brewery in Australia. Direct Injection Technologies, an AgTech company from QLD, reached its minimum target within 24 hours raising over $650,000 in total. Lastly, neobank disruptor Xinja - the first company to do a second equity crowdfund - has raised more than $5.3 million.
Wilkinson went on to say that more and more promising early-stage companies are looking to equity crowdfunding as a way to raise capital, not only to fuel their growth but as a way for fans and followers to join them on the journey.
‘’We have companies approaching us daily wanting to raise capital which is very exciting. At the moment we have Emperor Champagne live, as well as another twelve businesses signed on to use our services including a sunglasses brand, skin cancer detection app and fintech platform which is working to formalise informal loans.’’
Equitise is Australia's leading and most experienced Equity Crowdfunding platform and helps businesses with a range of services including but not limited to Equity Crowdfunded retail campaigns, wholesale campaigns and IPO offers.
Equitise was also a finalist for Fintech Organisation of the Year up against big industry players such as AfterPay, Medipass, Prospa, Wisr and Up.