Brutal honesty and collaboration: Life after an equity crowdfund raise

Manrags co-founder Michael Elias has spent the past week preparing to welcome 177 investors on board his business.

The Melbourne-based underwear subscription business, which Elias founded with his wife Tina, successfully raised $363,000 two weeks ago through an equity crowdfunding campaign.

The raise elevates Manrags into a small cohort of businesses that have successfully closed off this type of fundraising since licences were issued to equity crowdfunding platforms in January.

“We hadn’t even run a capital raise to begin with, and just going down the path of a capital raise is quite full on,” Elias says.

A new type of investor

Now the process is complete, Manrags will be one of the first companies to grow a business with this new type of investor on board.

The company wanted to raise at least $300,000 by selling shares at 50c each. The business turns over more than $500,000 a year and now has more than 100 individuals on board owning equity stakes of as little as $250.

At minimum, Manrags now has to provide these investors with access to annual financials, but Elias says the plan is to form a much closer relationship with them. Read more

Emma Koehn - Brisbane Times - 10 Sep 2018