Helping people fund the things they care about.

Case Study: Puro

Puroโ€™s equity crowdfunding campaign


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Age of company:
1 year

Sector:
Medicine

Annual Revenue:
$20.6 million projected 2021

Campaign link:

Puroโ€™s equity crowdfunding campaign

Total Raised:
$3.6 million

Number of Investors
720

Country:
New Zealand


Background

Puro was established in November, 2018 as a medicinal cannabis cultivator. Soon after the company and governing body was formed, they secured two premium growing sites in the luscious region of Marlborough, New Zealand. Less than a year later, they secured their growing licence. With their world-class team of experts and purchase agreements already in place in Australia and New Zealand, Puro was poised to make cannabis the โ€˜new sauvignon blancโ€™ of Marlborough in terms of bringing wealth and employment to the region. All they needed next was the funds to bring their ambitious vision to life. For that, they turned to their crowd.

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โ€œOur crowdfunding campaign provides an opportunity for New Zealanders to buy shares in our company and become part of our journey and help us produce something that will make a real difference in peopleโ€™s lives.โ€
— Sank Macfarlane, Director of Puro

Timeline

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โ€œItโ€™s about bringing together a community of people who believe in the power of medical cannabis to make a difference.โ€
— Tim Aldridge, Managing Director of Puro

What worked well?

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Good, on-brand communications

From their beautifully filmed pitch video to their cleanly designed Information Memorandum, all their communications were on-brand and had a very professional look and feel about them. 

Roadshows

Puro hosted roadshows in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch to meet and greet potential pledgers and people interested in their campaign.

It caught the mediaโ€™s interest

Puro was featured in several publications when it launched its equity campaign and as it hit various milestones too.

They didnโ€™t slow down

Even after theyโ€™d reached their $500k minimum goal, they kept up the momentum. Their efforts paid off, and they reached the legal maximum amount they could raise.

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What could be improved?

Some pledgers were reluctant to provide legally required details

Puro had a large and enthusiastic crowd. However, processing all the pledges was made harder by some pledgers who were at first unwilling to provide their details, though theyโ€™d agreed to in the pledging process and were legally required to as an investor. This made the processing time longer than it needed to be. Perhaps reiterating this requirement could have improved this. 


Conclusion

Puro raised $3.6 million through 720 shareholders.

After breaking the crowdfunding record across Australia and New Zealand for the biggest combined equity and wholesale raise at the time, Puro was ready to start planting. With an expectation of providing at least 200 jobs in the Marlborough region and to become of one the worldโ€™s best medicinal cannabis growing sites, Puro aimed to become the โ€˜new sauvignon blancโ€™ of the region. On the eve of significant legislation changes regarding cannabis use in New Zealand, Puro expected to grow their enterprise in a big way, and invited the New Zealand public to join them on their journey.

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Your action plan

Putting it into practice

Launch when the time is right

Think about when youโ€™re launching your campaign. You and your team need to be ready. Launching it when thereโ€™s a relevant event or topic of public discussion occurring could be a major factor in your crowdfunding success too!

Prepare your communication plan

Be prepared with a clear calendar for all campaign dates and deadlines, social media campaigns, media releases, team check-ins and related events.

Get a good team on board

Before you launch your campaign, make sure you have all the skills needed to cover all aspects of a crowdfunding campaign in your team, even if you need to hire a contractor.


How can PledgeMe help?

If youโ€™re considering an equity crowdfunding campaign, weโ€™re ready to help. Contact us for a chat.


You can also learn more about creating a crowdfunding campaign in Australia or in New Zealand on our main website.

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