School lunch firm tucks into crowdfunding
Equity crowdfunding is not just for startups and a 15-year-old company best known for its school tuck shops is seeking $1 million to expand its business and extend a free lunch scheme.
The Libelle Group will use the money to almost double its chain of 58 Champion tuck shops and to develop an app for Txt-My-Lunch, an online service that sends a prepurchased meal ticket to a child’s mobile phone, or direct to the school, to be redeemed for a lunch at the school canteen.
Chef and company owner Johannes Tietze said the business needed to make a significant investment in new technology and he liked the idea of using the Crowd88 platform to attract investors who supported Libelle’s commitment to healthy food.
‘‘It’s adding strength to the balance sheet, rather than a debt you have to pay back; the bank is never going to be as emotionally involved and attracted to the vision of making a difference.’’
As well as streamlining TxtMy-Lunch, Tietze said the app would make it much easier for corporates or individuals to gift lunches to needy students.
The longer-term target was to provide 60,000 lunches a month.
Alongside the crowdfunding launch early next month, Libelle will attempt to sell some of its existing shares to private investors, with the aim of raising $3.3m in total.
Paul Hocking of Crowd88 said this combination offering to wholesale and retail investors was becoming more common.
The sort of companies using crowdfunding ranged from tech sector newbies with a few staff, to those such as Libelle, which has close to 300 employees.
Only a minority had a ‘‘social good’’ or sustainability aspect to them, but it did add to the attractiveness of the business as far as investors were concerned.
Hocking said Crowd88 would expect companies using its platform to report back to investors on a quarterly basis, and to take on an independent director.
Stuff is the media partner for Small Business Month, supported by CAANZ.