Seed and early stage investment club, Club Investible, has closed its largest early stage financing of an Australian company with an investment of $1 million in Australian-based global wearable payments and applications start-up INAMO.
Club Investible was founded by Australian investor-entrepreneurs Trevor Folsom and Creel Price. Folsom said before now, promising start-ups like INAMO often had to go offshore for early-stage financing.
“Now, there are more opportunities for and interest from Australian investors to get involved early on,” he said.
“It’s all about putting Australian money early into businesses with potential. In the past, local investors have missed out and founders have not had pleasant experiences raising funds in Australia. Now, we are making it easier and more lucrative for Australian investors to access and invest in great businesses.”
INAMO recently unveiled the CURL, a waterproof wearable than one can attach to a watch, fitness band or keyring and use to make contactless payments on the go. According to company founder Peter Colbert, the Club Investible network has proven invaluable for his business.
“We live in a global marketplace, so it is critical that Australian businesses have opportunities to connect with international investors and consumers,” Colbert says.
“Club Investible provided us with access to angels who brought real value to the business – using its partners to secure introductions and opportunities in the US and letting our technology do the rest.
“What impressed me was how the management of Investible made the process of raising capital professional and seamless. Their model is very similar to that of Y-Combinator where they back the founder, then the idea.”
Club Investible claims it now has more than 50 members and partners globally, including successful entrepreneurs, family offices and corporate executives.
Hugh Bickerstaff, Investible’s director of investments said Club Investible looked for investments with global business models and “most importantly, high-quality founders”.
“Every one of our investments comes back to the quality of the founder. With respect to INAMO, we saw Peter’s energy, passion and commitment to get things done. Additionally, he’s connected into, and understands, the community of active people that will be attracted to the CURL.
“There’s also significant opportunity for INAMO in the US market, which doesn't yet have contactless payments, and we’re excited to see how the business progresses.”
Bickerstaff says INAMO’s seed financing round was oversubscribed and raised $1.5 million in total.
The network also invested $1.3 million in US-based BUCKiTDREAM late last year and participated in the US$4.2m Series A capital raising round of Booksy – a SaaS start-up for appointment-based businesses, based in Poland.