At close of business on Tuesday 17th, Raglan Company Aeronavics hit the $1m mark and was still counting. At the $1 million point the drone firm had achieved New Zealand’s largest ever equity crowdfunding result to date. Then overnight it hit the over funding target of $1.5 million so the offer is now closed.
The Raglan-based firm, whose global customers include NASA, Disney and DreamWorks, achieved its initial target of $750,000 in just three days through an offer on equity crowdfunding platform Snowball Effect.
Having attracted 191 investors at that point, Aeronavics was well on track to hit its maximum funding cap of $1.5 million when the offer closes on 14 March. But that time wasn’t needed as the target was reached on the 18th of February.
Aeronavics general manager and director Linda Bulk says she is delighted with the response so far. “The popularity of the raise has definitely exceeded our expectations, both in terms of the pace investors have come on board, and the amount raised.
“What’s really exciting is that exceeding our initial target will allow us to bring our growth plans forward. We’ll be able to develop products in our R&D pipeline earlier, which will widen our range of solutions, boost and streamline our production capabilities and give us a real edge in this global market.”
Aeronavics Head of R&D and Product Development, Rob Brouwer says he wants to increase the size of the 12-strong team and potentially set up manufacturing operations outside of Raglan. That will allow the company to use better technology to more easily build machines.
“Currently we have technicians who have soldering irons, and in several months’ time they won’t be using soldering irons. Everything will be plug-and-play, basically.” The company is also looking at changing the distribution model to set up dedicated Aeronavics vendors overseas.
Shaun Edlin from Snowball Effect, which is hosting the Aeronavics offer, says the offer has set a new benchmark for equity crowdfunding in New Zealand.
“This is the first ever equity crowdfunding offer in New Zealand to surpass the $1 million mark, and is also the fastest raise on the Snowball Effect platform so far. We’re thrilled for the Aeronavics team, who are now aiming to hit the $1.5 million overfunding target.”
The Aeronavics offer ends on 14 March unless fully subscribed earlier. Details about the offer can be found at https://www.snowballeffect.co.nz/aeronavics
Aeronavics is the fourth offer hosted by Snowball Effect, all of which have achieved their funding targets. The previous three successful offers were: Renaissance Brewing ($700,000), The Patriarch ($488,800) and CarbonScape ($764,302).