PledgeMe Limited
By Anna Guenther
PledgeMe.Investment
Technology,
NZ $100,000 pledged
50 people pledged
Closed
NZ $50,000 minimum target
This campaign hit its maximum target on 18/11/2014 at 6:41 PM and is now closed.
Make a PledgeAbout
PledgeMe Limited
Update: We hit our maximum goal in less than 24 hours!
Thank you to our whole crowd, you are amazing. We're humbled by the outpouring of support (and investment dollars), and are so proud to have 50 new shareholders in the PledgeMe family. We've been getting a few sad emails from our crowd that missed out this time. If you're one of those people, please register here to be kept up-to-date on any future capital raising.
About us
We are New Zealand's oldest crowdfunding website (in terms of how long we've been doing what we do, not in an elderly sort of way). We provide a platform so any Kiwi can tap into their network to help them fund campaigns they’re passionate about. All they need is an idea, a $$ goal a timeframe, and crowd of people to help promote and pledge on it.
We run an all-or-nothing model. This means the funding goal needs to be met by the deadline for the campaign to receive the pledged money. In just over two years, we have helped over 700 projects raise more than $2.9 million with a 49% success rate.
Building on the success of our project crowdfunding, we've entered the equity crowdfunding space, gaining one of the first licenses in New Zealand to provide this service. This move means PledgeMe is New Zealand’s one-stop-shop for crowdfunding.
Why crowdfund crowdfunding?
We're so dedicated to crowdfunding we're equity crowdfunding ourselves! With your investment we are looking to make our user experience even more awesome by taking it mobile, and to grow our team so we can help even more Kiwis fund things they care about.
There are three specific things we need to grow
1. You! Crowdfunding is all about crowds, and you Aunty Jo, bestie Herman and five-time success Laura are our crowd. We want you to own a little bit of PledgeMe so you have a say in what we do and how we operate, and so that you can tag along for this start-up to stay-up to maybe even sell-up ride. Come be our investment crowd.
2. Optimise the site for mobile. It works now, but it’s really not fun for anyone. With the money raised we will run a development sprint to focus on this.
3. To build our team so we can help more people crowdfund. We will bring on more staff to grow our company, and this could be you! Check out our blog on some of the roles, and get in touch!
By engaging our crowd of supporters, building out our core team, and making the site more accessible, we'll be able to grow — and simultaneously grow New Zealand’s vibrant crowdfunding scene.
Why should you invest?
We have a unique spot in the New Zealand crowdfunding market. We were the first project crowdfunding platform and one of the first companies to receive an equity crowdfunding license. We are the only company that does both (in the whole world!). We have a solid track record of success with over 700 successful projects raising over $2.9 million in just over two years.
We’ve proved there is a strong demand and growing market for crowdfunding in New Zealand. On the back of our recognised and respected brand, we offer a strong opportunity for return on investment as well as some pretty cool rewards (from us and our crowd).
At $20 a share with a minimum buy of $500 we're aiming to make this an affordable investment for anyone out there who has used PledgeMe to fund a project or business, or who has pledged on one of our projects or companies. We want to grow our crowdfunding company with our crowd.
The board is committed to paying dividends when it is prudent to do so, and would be open to a trade sale in the future.
And, you know, we like to work hard and party harder. We promise to have a huge Party/AGM-festival extravaganza every year which all shareholders are entitled to attend, and to help drive PledgeMe’s direction. It’s going to be a crowd-powered event.
Oh and we’ve got some sweet rewards. Check out the tab to the right for more details.
The structure and business model
We've got a small agile team of staff operating in a flat structure (see below for their details). The Chief Bubble Blowing CEO, Anna, reports directly to the board of directors. We work with Rabid Tech for our web development, use Buddle Findlay for our legal support, Deloitte as our virtual CFO, and have a bevy of contractors that we call in when needed.
Our revenue stream comes from taking a 5% success fee on all successful project and equity campaigns, with some shiny new revenue streams in the equity space.
Our current shareholding is outlined below:
Shareholder |
Shares |
Percentage |
Anna Guenther | 15,790 shares | 52.6% |
Rabid Technologies Limited | 5,000 shares | 16.7% |
Nicholas Romilly Lewis Diane Herma Lewis |
1,500 shares | 5% |
Anake Angus Murray Goodall
Charles Murray Maarire Goodall
|
1,500 shares | 5% |
Master & Margarita Limited | 6,210 shares | 20.7% |
Our shareholding after a raise (to the $100k maximum) would look like this:
Shareholder |
Shares |
Percentage |
Anna Guenther | 15,790 shares | 45.1% |
Rabid Technologies Limited | 5,000 shares | 14.3% |
Nicholas Romilly Lewis Diane Herma Lewis |
1,500 shares | 4.3% |
Anake Angus Murray Goodall Charles Murray Maarire Goodall
|
1,500 shares | 4.3% |
Master & Margarita Limited | 6,210 shares | 17.7% |
Equity Crowdfunded Shareholders | 5,000 shares | 14.3% |
Read our Constitution to see the rights attached to these ordinary voting shares.
About our Team
Anna Guenther, our Chief Bubble Blower and co-flounderer, wrote her entire Masters thesis on crowdfunding. She was inspired by this model of funding, especially after a few years working for the government and helping to manage some more traditional grant processeses. And, as an up-and-coming entrepreneur she knows the pain of seeking investment, and is excited to finally be able to fund PledgeMe the way she always dreamed of — through our crowd.
Jen O'Sullivan, well, where do we start? She's our chief people wrangling, theatre managing, improv making goddess. She helps get all of our projects set up, and keeps us all calm and collected. She helped manage three successful crowdfunding campaigns before we hired her (that's not normally part of the application process, swear) and in a previous life worked for TradeMe and Bats Theatre.
Jackson James Wood gets stories about crowdfunding out into the world, and has an amazing way with words. Word! He also is co-founder of Ora, a startup looking to make workplaces safer which is in the Ākina Foundation’s Launchpad programme. Jackson loves Saddlebacks, was the editor of Salient back in his uni days and writes the occasional piece for The Wireless.
YOU? We’re looking to grow our team in a variety of roles. They will all be part time roles (with the opportunity to move to full time) based in Wellington, Auckland or Christchurch. Think you’ve got what it takes? Find out more here. (Beard optional)
Our board
Anake Goodall — Anake has a strong background in both the public and private sector, and is currently on the boards of Meridian and the Ākina Foundation. During his time as CEO of Ngāi Tahu, he developed an intergenerational asset allocation programme around the then $700million portfolio. He's also a lovely man.
Nick Lewis — Nick is an experienced entrepreneur, with a history of work in the investment banking space (from JP Morgan through to co-founding Woodward Investments in New Zealand). He is the Chair of our board, and has advised us for two years.
Breccan McLeod-Lundy — Breccan manages all things tech for us, with the help of the awesome Rabid team. He's also passionate about what the next level of crowdfunding could be, and has a beautifully analytical brain.
Anna, who you met earlier, is also on the board.
We also have an amazing team of contractors who get pulled in to do design work, development work, comms, and to be our brand ambassadors around the country.
What we've done so far
We've helped a whole crowd of Kiwis fund their campaigns (as you can see above). This all started with some initial testing and market validation in 2011. Then we hard launched the website in February 2012 with a real focus on the branding, user interface, and building our crowd with brand ambassadors around the country.
In 2013 we partnered with Rabid Technology. We’ve consistently worked on platform improvements, building our code from scratch (twice) and sourcing user feedback from every funded campaign. Every single one. Our latest iteration of PledgeMe delineates project and equity crowdfunding, and has simplified our processes, and increased usability and scalability. Our goal is to make the process as easy as possible for our crowd, so they can achieve their goals and complete their campaigns — and remove as many barriers from pledging as possible.
We'd been watching the equity crowdfunding space overseas ever since Anna wrote a thesis on crowdfunding. We committed to jumping into the space with the support of our board and running an investment round ourselves. Since we hit go in March 2014, we've gained a license to offer equity crowdfunding in New Zealand (no mean feat!), and built our most current version of PledgeMe.
We know and care about our crowd — that's our main point of difference. Our awesome crowd — you — makes us who we are. We need to have a competitive price and product, and our customers need to see the value in what we do, trust us, and see a value exchange in every campaign (be it for shares, rewards, or that feel good factor).
We're trying to change the way everything is funded.
Our track record of getting media coverage in New Zealand is great (hi Business Desk! Hi ODT!) — that's because we get to play with our cool crowd every day and help share fun and inspiring stories; and we make friends with journalists.
What's next?
When we hit our goal (which we’re pretty sure we will. We have already talked to quite a few of you about our plans and there are good precedents overseas) we’ll brief our developers, plan out our mobile optimisation and start building our team.
And then we’ll keep on building our brand. We’ll focus on growing, evolving, and paying out a return to our investors. And, we’ll make sure to keep our crowd of shareholders involved in the journey through our Shareholder Page functionality. We'll also make sure you have fun (and potentially some more teal beer) along the way.
Risks and Challenges
Our biggest risk is that we won't be able to educate our users on how to effectively crowdfund. Running this campaign is not only a way to ensure that we are able to educate people by having a staff member devoted to equity, but we're putting ourselves through the process. We're walking the talk so we can help everyone else crowdfund. We are also creating a thorough guide to equity crowdfunding which will be available in electronic and hard copy which will act as a resource for people before, during, and after running a campaign.
You can watch the journey (both the highs and the lows) on our blog.
Questions?
Hit the tab above and let us know what you're thinking. Our campaign manager, Kat Jenkins, will get an answer back to you. If you need to email her direct, flick her a note here.
And, a final thanks
Thanks to Kat Jenkins for managing our campaign for us. We needed someone external to run this campaign under our license, and were excited to finally have the opportunity to work with Kat, especially on a campaign so close to home for us. Thanks to Julia Campbell (one of our alumni) and Ro Tierney for the pitch video help. Muchas gracias to our board members for their continued support and feedback on how we can make PledgeMe the best community of crowdfunders in Aotearoa New Zealand. And, lastly, to you for reading this. And for thinking about pledging to invest, or sharing this campaign on with your crowd.
Updates 6
Equity crowdfunding up a storm!
06/04/2015 at 4:55 PM
Hey Shareholders and Followers,
As you know, we've been pretty busy here in the PledgeMe office! We've got five equity campaigns up at the moment, with more getting ready to launch in the next few weeks.
We need your help sharing the word about these campaigns. Here's a bit more about them:
- Pineapple Heads is a natural hair and body product brand for kids, created by single mum Megan Sanders. She's making bath time fun, and needs some help to build her team beyond her son, Jimmy, and two dogs.
- Sellshed by Websoft Limited is a tech company based in Tauranga that wants to change the way we trade online; making it more of a social and mobile thing.
- Parent Interviews is a software as a service (Saas) company helping schools facilitate parent teacher interviews. It was created by 19 year-old Dunedin based Indy Griffiths while he was still at high school.
- Chariot is a ride sharing mobile app that is getting ready to launch. It's beautifully designed, and has a great team.
- Be Intent Youth is a technology that helps young people become inspired and resilient through positive psychology. The founder of the company, Suzanne Hall, has extensive business experience under her belt from the previous company she founded, Living Nature.
If your social media feed is feeling a bit too full of easter eggs and holiday pictures, we'd love if you could share the image below with a link to our live campaigns: http://pldg.me/currentequity
Cheers,
Anna
You need to pledge to see this update.
You need to pledge to see this update.
Media Roundup and a Frequently Asked Question
24/11/2014 at 9:52 AM
Dear PledgeMe shareholder family,
We hope you had a wonderful weekend. The PledgeMe team are all still on a high from last week’s campaign. Anna and I thought it would be a good idea to share some of the media highlights so far:
-
Idealog: http://bit.ly/1FeLesR
-
Business Desk: http://yhoo.it/11OkjWC
-
Techday: http://bit.ly/1xERvMh
As well as spots on Radio New Zealand, newspapers up and down the country, and all over social media.
We’ve had a couple of questions around when payments will be made. So to clarify:
Your investments will be processed after the campaign has closed and we’ve verified your identities (part of a licensing requirement). Sit tight until then!!
If you have any other questions, feel free to email me or ask them on the company page.
Thank you so much for your support so far!
Kat Jenkins
Wow! Wow! Wow!
19/11/2014 at 2:25 PM
To the latest additions in the PledgeMe shareholder family,
May I just say, you are all AMAZING! Everyone in the PledgeMe office, as well as myself managing this campaign remotely in the middle of Northland Nowhere were utterly BLOWN AWAY last night to see that little ticker fly up.
What a way to launch PledgeMe’s equity campaign! PledgeMe are now 100% subscribed. Sold out! They have a freaking waiting list of people who want to invest!
We’ve been inundated by disappointed people who missed out by minutes. That means that YOU were quick, getting in within 23 hours and 27 odd minutes of launching. You are helping to improve the platform (yay mobile optimisation!) AND increase the general awareness and success rate of equity crowdfunding in New Zealand.
If you know one of the unlucky ones who wanted to invest but missed out, pass on this link to them so PledgeMe knows who to contact if/when they do another equity round.
I am so excited to have played a part by managing this campaign. I’m sure Anna has something to say at this point too, so I’ll pass the mic to her…
A message from Anna:
Cheers to you, Shareholders! As you can see above, we toasted you last night when we hit our minimum (and then quickly, our maximum goal). Next time we’ll be toasting you in person at our rocking AGM.
We wrote a blog today to properly say thank you: http://blog.pledgeme.co.nz/cheers-to-you-new-shareholders/
Righto, Kat again. Here’s how it rolls from here:
-
You’ll hear from me occasionally from this point when we have some news to share. You’re still more than welcome to ask questions via the campaign page and I’ll get them answered for you.
-
The campaign will remain open until the closing date, although no more pledges are being accepted. Your investment will be processed on 1 December. Then, you’ll be added to the PledgeMe Shareholder page where you’ll be able to communicate with the team at PledgeMe, and each other.
-
Your friends can get on the waiting list by heading here and joining the list!
Here’s to your investment!
Kat Jenkins
Thank YOU!
18/11/2014 at 2:03 PM
Hello PledgeMe Shareholder Family, (and lurkers)
Firstly, let me introduce myself. My name's Kat Jenkins and I'm New Zealand's only independent crowdfunding specialist. Due to some policies set out in their crowdfunding license, Anna has brought me on board to manage this campaign. You'll be hearing from me until PledgeMe has smashed its funding goal.
I'm pleased to join you in investing in PledgeMe. As a PledgeMe alumni myself I agree with you this platform is worth investing in!
I'll be sending you updates and answering your questions for the next couple of weeks. If you've got any questions — or you just want to tell us how awesome PledgeMe is — feel free to fire them through.
Less than 24 hours into our campaign well over 50 percent had been pledged!
It's been so exciting to watch PledgeMe’s crowd get in behind this campaign. It's been a bit of a journey to get to this stage so it's fantastic to see it go off like a firecracker!
A message from Anna:
We are so excited. The response from our crowd has been phenomenal; not just in speed and dollars pledged since we went live, but in the time, feedback, and support given in the lead up.
We’ve always wanted to crowdfund crowdfunding, and what better way to do it than with our crowd of personal and professional networks, as well as with our alumni and users.
Thanks for joining us on this journey. We can’t wait to take you along for the ride.
A
Kat here again. Remember, if you have any questions or comments fire them through here or on the PledgeMe page.
Thanks for crowdfunding crowdfunding!
Kat Jenkins
Details
Offer Details
Current Valuation | 600,000 |
Raise Minimum | 50,000 |
Raise Maximum | 100,000 |
Share Price | 20.00 |
Minimum Pledge | 500.00 |
Maximum Shares Offered | 5,000 |
Explanation of valuation:
Based on multiplier of our current earnings, as well as a comparison with overseas.
Financial Summary
Prev Year | Current Year | Est. FY 2026 | Est. FY 2027 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Revenue | NZ $62,714 | NZ $128,139 | NZ $400,485 | NZ $966,121 |
Operating Expenses | NZ $40,530 | NZ $117,865 | NZ $240,030 | NZ $448,155 |
EBITDA | NZ $22,184 | -NZ $1,135 | NZ $103,410 | NZ $346,831 |
Net Profit | NZ $10,676 | -NZ $28,868 | NZ $46,156 | NZ $226,719 |
Company Details
Company Name: PledgeMe Limited (registered as PLEDGEME LIMITED)
Company Number: 3361892
Companies Office URL: http://www.business.govt.nz/companies/app/ui/pages/companies/3361892
Incorporation Date: 19 Apr 2011
Company Status: Registered
Entity Type: Registered
Constitution Filed: Yes
Annual Return Filing Month: March, last filed 25 Mar 2014
Addresses:
Registered Office |
267 Wakefield Street Te Aro Wellington |
Address for Service |
267 Wakefield Street Te Aro Wellington |
Company Documents
Director Details
Name | Role | Profile URL | Invested? |
---|---|---|---|
Anna Guenther | Managing Director | http://nz.linkedin.com/in/annaguenther/ | ✔ |
Anake Goodall | Independent Director | http://nz.linkedin.com/in/anakegoodall | ✔ |
Breccan McLeod-Lundy | Director | http://nz.linkedin.com/in/breccan | ✗ |
Nick Lewis | Chairman | http://nz.linkedin.com/in/nicklewiscfa | ✔ |
Questions
Pledgers 50
18/11/2014 at 10:22am
18/11/2014 at 10:05am
18/11/2014 at 9:08am
18/11/2014 at 8:06am
18/11/2014 at 6:22am
17/11/2014 at 11:30pm
17/11/2014 at 10:34pm
17/11/2014 at 10:14pm
17/11/2014 at 10:10pm
17/11/2014 at 9:57pm
17/11/2014 at 8:42pm
17/11/2014 at 8:25pm
17/11/2014 at 7:57pm
17/11/2014 at 7:54pm
17/11/2014 at 7:42pm
17/11/2014 at 7:41pm
17/11/2014 at 7:41pm
17/11/2014 at 7:24pm
17/11/2014 at 7:20pm
17/11/2014 at 7:20pm
PledgeMe Limited
Update: We hit our maximum goal in less than 24 hours!
Thank you to our whole crowd, you are amazing. We're humbled by the outpouring of support (and investment dollars), and are so proud to have 50 new shareholders in the PledgeMe family. We've been getting a few sad emails from our crowd that missed out this time. If you're one of those people, please register here to be kept up-to-date on any future capital raising.
About us
We are New Zealand's oldest crowdfunding website (in terms of how long we've been doing what we do, not in an elderly sort of way). We provide a platform so any Kiwi can tap into their network to help them fund campaigns they’re passionate about. All they need is an idea, a $$ goal a timeframe, and crowd of people to help promote and pledge on it.
We run an all-or-nothing model. This means the funding goal needs to be met by the deadline for the campaign to receive the pledged money. In just over two years, we have helped over 700 projects raise more than $2.9 million with a 49% success rate.
Building on the success of our project crowdfunding, we've entered the equity crowdfunding space, gaining one of the first licenses in New Zealand to provide this service. This move means PledgeMe is New Zealand’s one-stop-shop for crowdfunding.
Why crowdfund crowdfunding?
We're so dedicated to crowdfunding we're equity crowdfunding ourselves! With your investment we are looking to make our user experience even more awesome by taking it mobile, and to grow our team so we can help even more Kiwis fund things they care about.
There are three specific things we need to grow
1. You! Crowdfunding is all about crowds, and you Aunty Jo, bestie Herman and five-time success Laura are our crowd. We want you to own a little bit of PledgeMe so you have a say in what we do and how we operate, and so that you can tag along for this start-up to stay-up to maybe even sell-up ride. Come be our investment crowd.
2. Optimise the site for mobile. It works now, but it’s really not fun for anyone. With the money raised we will run a development sprint to focus on this.
3. To build our team so we can help more people crowdfund. We will bring on more staff to grow our company, and this could be you! Check out our blog on some of the roles, and get in touch!
By engaging our crowd of supporters, building out our core team, and making the site more accessible, we'll be able to grow — and simultaneously grow New Zealand’s vibrant crowdfunding scene.
Why should you invest?
We have a unique spot in the New Zealand crowdfunding market. We were the first project crowdfunding platform and one of the first companies to receive an equity crowdfunding license. We are the only company that does both (in the whole world!). We have a solid track record of success with over 700 successful projects raising over $2.9 million in just over two years.
We’ve proved there is a strong demand and growing market for crowdfunding in New Zealand. On the back of our recognised and respected brand, we offer a strong opportunity for return on investment as well as some pretty cool rewards (from us and our crowd).
At $20 a share with a minimum buy of $500 we're aiming to make this an affordable investment for anyone out there who has used PledgeMe to fund a project or business, or who has pledged on one of our projects or companies. We want to grow our crowdfunding company with our crowd.
The board is committed to paying dividends when it is prudent to do so, and would be open to a trade sale in the future.
And, you know, we like to work hard and party harder. We promise to have a huge Party/AGM-festival extravaganza every year which all shareholders are entitled to attend, and to help drive PledgeMe’s direction. It’s going to be a crowd-powered event.
Oh and we’ve got some sweet rewards. Check out the tab to the right for more details.
The structure and business model
We've got a small agile team of staff operating in a flat structure (see below for their details). The Chief Bubble Blowing CEO, Anna, reports directly to the board of directors. We work with Rabid Tech for our web development, use Buddle Findlay for our legal support, Deloitte as our virtual CFO, and have a bevy of contractors that we call in when needed.
Our revenue stream comes from taking a 5% success fee on all successful project and equity campaigns, with some shiny new revenue streams in the equity space.
Our current shareholding is outlined below:
Shareholder |
Shares |
Percentage |
Anna Guenther | 15,790 shares | 52.6% |
Rabid Technologies Limited | 5,000 shares | 16.7% |
Nicholas Romilly Lewis Diane Herma Lewis |
1,500 shares | 5% |
Anake Angus Murray Goodall
Charles Murray Maarire Goodall
|
1,500 shares | 5% |
Master & Margarita Limited | 6,210 shares | 20.7% |
Our shareholding after a raise (to the $100k maximum) would look like this:
Shareholder |
Shares |
Percentage |
Anna Guenther | 15,790 shares | 45.1% |
Rabid Technologies Limited | 5,000 shares | 14.3% |
Nicholas Romilly Lewis Diane Herma Lewis |
1,500 shares | 4.3% |
Anake Angus Murray Goodall Charles Murray Maarire Goodall
|
1,500 shares | 4.3% |
Master & Margarita Limited | 6,210 shares | 17.7% |
Equity Crowdfunded Shareholders | 5,000 shares | 14.3% |
Read our Constitution to see the rights attached to these ordinary voting shares.
About our Team
Anna Guenther, our Chief Bubble Blower and co-flounderer, wrote her entire Masters thesis on crowdfunding. She was inspired by this model of funding, especially after a few years working for the government and helping to manage some more traditional grant processeses. And, as an up-and-coming entrepreneur she knows the pain of seeking investment, and is excited to finally be able to fund PledgeMe the way she always dreamed of — through our crowd.
Jen O'Sullivan, well, where do we start? She's our chief people wrangling, theatre managing, improv making goddess. She helps get all of our projects set up, and keeps us all calm and collected. She helped manage three successful crowdfunding campaigns before we hired her (that's not normally part of the application process, swear) and in a previous life worked for TradeMe and Bats Theatre.
Jackson James Wood gets stories about crowdfunding out into the world, and has an amazing way with words. Word! He also is co-founder of Ora, a startup looking to make workplaces safer which is in the Ākina Foundation’s Launchpad programme. Jackson loves Saddlebacks, was the editor of Salient back in his uni days and writes the occasional piece for The Wireless.
YOU? We’re looking to grow our team in a variety of roles. They will all be part time roles (with the opportunity to move to full time) based in Wellington, Auckland or Christchurch. Think you’ve got what it takes? Find out more here. (Beard optional)
Our board
Anake Goodall — Anake has a strong background in both the public and private sector, and is currently on the boards of Meridian and the Ākina Foundation. During his time as CEO of Ngāi Tahu, he developed an intergenerational asset allocation programme around the then $700million portfolio. He's also a lovely man.
Nick Lewis — Nick is an experienced entrepreneur, with a history of work in the investment banking space (from JP Morgan through to co-founding Woodward Investments in New Zealand). He is the Chair of our board, and has advised us for two years.
Breccan McLeod-Lundy — Breccan manages all things tech for us, with the help of the awesome Rabid team. He's also passionate about what the next level of crowdfunding could be, and has a beautifully analytical brain.
Anna, who you met earlier, is also on the board.
We also have an amazing team of contractors who get pulled in to do design work, development work, comms, and to be our brand ambassadors around the country.
What we've done so far
We've helped a whole crowd of Kiwis fund their campaigns (as you can see above). This all started with some initial testing and market validation in 2011. Then we hard launched the website in February 2012 with a real focus on the branding, user interface, and building our crowd with brand ambassadors around the country.
In 2013 we partnered with Rabid Technology. We’ve consistently worked on platform improvements, building our code from scratch (twice) and sourcing user feedback from every funded campaign. Every single one. Our latest iteration of PledgeMe delineates project and equity crowdfunding, and has simplified our processes, and increased usability and scalability. Our goal is to make the process as easy as possible for our crowd, so they can achieve their goals and complete their campaigns — and remove as many barriers from pledging as possible.
We'd been watching the equity crowdfunding space overseas ever since Anna wrote a thesis on crowdfunding. We committed to jumping into the space with the support of our board and running an investment round ourselves. Since we hit go in March 2014, we've gained a license to offer equity crowdfunding in New Zealand (no mean feat!), and built our most current version of PledgeMe.
We know and care about our crowd — that's our main point of difference. Our awesome crowd — you — makes us who we are. We need to have a competitive price and product, and our customers need to see the value in what we do, trust us, and see a value exchange in every campaign (be it for shares, rewards, or that feel good factor).
We're trying to change the way everything is funded.
Our track record of getting media coverage in New Zealand is great (hi Business Desk! Hi ODT!) — that's because we get to play with our cool crowd every day and help share fun and inspiring stories; and we make friends with journalists.
What's next?
When we hit our goal (which we’re pretty sure we will. We have already talked to quite a few of you about our plans and there are good precedents overseas) we’ll brief our developers, plan out our mobile optimisation and start building our team.
And then we’ll keep on building our brand. We’ll focus on growing, evolving, and paying out a return to our investors. And, we’ll make sure to keep our crowd of shareholders involved in the journey through our Shareholder Page functionality. We'll also make sure you have fun (and potentially some more teal beer) along the way.
Risks and Challenges
Our biggest risk is that we won't be able to educate our users on how to effectively crowdfund. Running this campaign is not only a way to ensure that we are able to educate people by having a staff member devoted to equity, but we're putting ourselves through the process. We're walking the talk so we can help everyone else crowdfund. We are also creating a thorough guide to equity crowdfunding which will be available in electronic and hard copy which will act as a resource for people before, during, and after running a campaign.
You can watch the journey (both the highs and the lows) on our blog.
Questions?
Hit the tab above and let us know what you're thinking. Our campaign manager, Kat Jenkins, will get an answer back to you. If you need to email her direct, flick her a note here.
And, a final thanks
Thanks to Kat Jenkins for managing our campaign for us. We needed someone external to run this campaign under our license, and were excited to finally have the opportunity to work with Kat, especially on a campaign so close to home for us. Thanks to Julia Campbell (one of our alumni) and Ro Tierney for the pitch video help. Muchas gracias to our board members for their continued support and feedback on how we can make PledgeMe the best community of crowdfunders in Aotearoa New Zealand. And, lastly, to you for reading this. And for thinking about pledging to invest, or sharing this campaign on with your crowd.
Equity crowdfunding up a storm!
06/04/2015 at 4:55 PM
Hey Shareholders and Followers,
As you know, we've been pretty busy here in the PledgeMe office! We've got five equity campaigns up at the moment, with more getting ready to launch in the next few weeks.
We need your help sharing the word about these campaigns. Here's a bit more about them:
- Pineapple Heads is a natural hair and body product brand for kids, created by single mum Megan Sanders. She's making bath time fun, and needs some help to build her team beyond her son, Jimmy, and two dogs.
- Sellshed by Websoft Limited is a tech company based in Tauranga that wants to change the way we trade online; making it more of a social and mobile thing.
- Parent Interviews is a software as a service (Saas) company helping schools facilitate parent teacher interviews. It was created by 19 year-old Dunedin based Indy Griffiths while he was still at high school.
- Chariot is a ride sharing mobile app that is getting ready to launch. It's beautifully designed, and has a great team.
- Be Intent Youth is a technology that helps young people become inspired and resilient through positive psychology. The founder of the company, Suzanne Hall, has extensive business experience under her belt from the previous company she founded, Living Nature.
If your social media feed is feeling a bit too full of easter eggs and holiday pictures, we'd love if you could share the image below with a link to our live campaigns: http://pldg.me/currentequity
Cheers,
Anna
You need to pledge to see this update.
You need to pledge to see this update.
Media Roundup and a Frequently Asked Question
24/11/2014 at 9:52 AM
Dear PledgeMe shareholder family,
We hope you had a wonderful weekend. The PledgeMe team are all still on a high from last week’s campaign. Anna and I thought it would be a good idea to share some of the media highlights so far:
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Idealog: http://bit.ly/1FeLesR
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Business Desk: http://yhoo.it/11OkjWC
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Techday: http://bit.ly/1xERvMh
As well as spots on Radio New Zealand, newspapers up and down the country, and all over social media.
We’ve had a couple of questions around when payments will be made. So to clarify:
Your investments will be processed after the campaign has closed and we’ve verified your identities (part of a licensing requirement). Sit tight until then!!
If you have any other questions, feel free to email me or ask them on the company page.
Thank you so much for your support so far!
Kat Jenkins
Wow! Wow! Wow!
19/11/2014 at 2:25 PM
To the latest additions in the PledgeMe shareholder family,
May I just say, you are all AMAZING! Everyone in the PledgeMe office, as well as myself managing this campaign remotely in the middle of Northland Nowhere were utterly BLOWN AWAY last night to see that little ticker fly up.
What a way to launch PledgeMe’s equity campaign! PledgeMe are now 100% subscribed. Sold out! They have a freaking waiting list of people who want to invest!
We’ve been inundated by disappointed people who missed out by minutes. That means that YOU were quick, getting in within 23 hours and 27 odd minutes of launching. You are helping to improve the platform (yay mobile optimisation!) AND increase the general awareness and success rate of equity crowdfunding in New Zealand.
If you know one of the unlucky ones who wanted to invest but missed out, pass on this link to them so PledgeMe knows who to contact if/when they do another equity round.
I am so excited to have played a part by managing this campaign. I’m sure Anna has something to say at this point too, so I’ll pass the mic to her…
A message from Anna:
Cheers to you, Shareholders! As you can see above, we toasted you last night when we hit our minimum (and then quickly, our maximum goal). Next time we’ll be toasting you in person at our rocking AGM.
We wrote a blog today to properly say thank you: http://blog.pledgeme.co.nz/cheers-to-you-new-shareholders/
Righto, Kat again. Here’s how it rolls from here:
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You’ll hear from me occasionally from this point when we have some news to share. You’re still more than welcome to ask questions via the campaign page and I’ll get them answered for you.
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The campaign will remain open until the closing date, although no more pledges are being accepted. Your investment will be processed on 1 December. Then, you’ll be added to the PledgeMe Shareholder page where you’ll be able to communicate with the team at PledgeMe, and each other.
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Your friends can get on the waiting list by heading here and joining the list!
Here’s to your investment!
Kat Jenkins
Thank YOU!
18/11/2014 at 2:03 PM
Hello PledgeMe Shareholder Family, (and lurkers)
Firstly, let me introduce myself. My name's Kat Jenkins and I'm New Zealand's only independent crowdfunding specialist. Due to some policies set out in their crowdfunding license, Anna has brought me on board to manage this campaign. You'll be hearing from me until PledgeMe has smashed its funding goal.
I'm pleased to join you in investing in PledgeMe. As a PledgeMe alumni myself I agree with you this platform is worth investing in!
I'll be sending you updates and answering your questions for the next couple of weeks. If you've got any questions — or you just want to tell us how awesome PledgeMe is — feel free to fire them through.
Less than 24 hours into our campaign well over 50 percent had been pledged!
It's been so exciting to watch PledgeMe’s crowd get in behind this campaign. It's been a bit of a journey to get to this stage so it's fantastic to see it go off like a firecracker!
A message from Anna:
We are so excited. The response from our crowd has been phenomenal; not just in speed and dollars pledged since we went live, but in the time, feedback, and support given in the lead up.
We’ve always wanted to crowdfund crowdfunding, and what better way to do it than with our crowd of personal and professional networks, as well as with our alumni and users.
Thanks for joining us on this journey. We can’t wait to take you along for the ride.
A
Kat here again. Remember, if you have any questions or comments fire them through here or on the PledgeMe page.
Thanks for crowdfunding crowdfunding!
Kat Jenkins
Offer Details
Current Valuation | 600,000 |
Raise Minimum | 50,000 |
Raise Maximum | 100,000 |
Share Price | 20.00 |
Minimum Pledge | 500.00 |
Maximum Shares Offered | 5,000 |
Explanation of valuation:
Based on multiplier of our current earnings, as well as a comparison with overseas.
Financial Summary
Prev Year | Current Year | Est. FY 2026 | Est. FY 2027 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Revenue | NZ $62,714 | NZ $128,139 | NZ $400,485 | NZ $966,121 |
Operating Expenses | NZ $40,530 | NZ $117,865 | NZ $240,030 | NZ $448,155 |
EBITDA | NZ $22,184 | -NZ $1,135 | NZ $103,410 | NZ $346,831 |
Net Profit | NZ $10,676 | -NZ $28,868 | NZ $46,156 | NZ $226,719 |
Company Details
Company Name: PledgeMe Limited (registered as PLEDGEME LIMITED)
Company Number: 3361892
Companies Office URL: http://www.business.govt.nz/companies/app/ui/pages/companies/3361892
Incorporation Date: 19 Apr 2011
Company Status: Registered
Entity Type: Registered
Constitution Filed: Yes
Annual Return Filing Month: March, last filed 25 Mar 2014
Addresses:
Registered Office |
267 Wakefield Street Te Aro Wellington |
Address for Service |
267 Wakefield Street Te Aro Wellington |
Company Documents
Director Details
Name | Role | Profile URL | Invested? |
---|---|---|---|
Anna Guenther | Managing Director | http://nz.linkedin.com/in/annaguenther/ | ✔ |
Anake Goodall | Independent Director | http://nz.linkedin.com/in/anakegoodall | ✔ |
Breccan McLeod-Lundy | Director | http://nz.linkedin.com/in/breccan | ✗ |
Nick Lewis | Chairman | http://nz.linkedin.com/in/nicklewiscfa | ✔ |