Artesian launches Australian crowdfunding platform

VentureCrowd differentiates itself from other crowfunding platforms such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo - which offer access to new product at a discounted price - by offering business ownership.

Investors registered on VentureCrowd can back companies that have been pre-screened through Artesian's partners, as well as start-ups that register directly on the site.

Partners include Blue Chilli, StartMate, Blackbird Ventures, the University of Melbourne, SydVentures, Tank Stream Labs, Vivant, TechBeach, Fishburners, iAccelerate, the University of Wollongong, the Slingshot Accelerator, AngelCube and Future Capital.

Investors can invest as little as $1,000 per start-up. VentureCrowd is encouraging investors to develop a portfolio to spread their risk and increase their return.

"More than 50% of start-ups fail, and the distribution of outcomes is asymmetrical. Approximately 90% of the returns in a diversified portfolio come from 10% of the start-ups. This is the reason that a filtered deal flow and a diversified portfolio are critical strategies for early stage venture investors," said Jeremy Colless, managing partner at Artesian.

The launch comes as the Australian government's Corporations & Markets Advisory Committee is looking to revise laws governing equity-raising with a view to making them compatible with crowdfunding. Currently, capital raising outside public markets is limited to A$2 million or 20 investors in any given 12-month period, with exemptions for sophisticated or wholesale investors.

Early this week, OurCrowd, an Israeli equity crowd-funding platform set up by serial entrepreneur Jon Medved, also launched its operations in Australia.

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• Topics
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