Goodments, an investment app known for matching people to shares and funds based on their environmental, social and ethical values, has recently announced its first retail crowdfunding raise with Australian platform Equitise. Aiming to raise a maximum of $500,000, investors can purchase shares in the business from $200.
Husband and wife co-founders of Goodments, Tom Culver and Emily Taylor, designed Goodments as a solution to the rapidly increasing demand for sustainable investment options across the globe as nine in 10 Australians now expect their super and other investments to be invested ethically and responsibly – quadrupling since 2014.
The Goodments shares app shows an investment’s true performance and impact, by giving both financial and sustainability data. Goodments has touted that its customers having overall outperformed the NASDAQ and the MSCI World Indexes.
Goodments is also challenging traditional investment platforms on price, by offering brokerage-free investments. From as little as $5, investors on the Goodments app can invest in international companies whilst ensuring they feel good about where their money sits – whether that’s investing in clean energy, companies that promote LGBTQI and diversity rights or animal rights.
“We’re living in an era of social consciousness being driven by a new generation of empowered and engaged young investors with over $1 trillion dollars in annual spending power globally,” Culver said.
“The traditional investing experience needed disrupting. It’s way too complex, far too expensive and most importantly when it comes to sustainability, totally lacking in transparency and personalisation. Personalisation is important as our research found that when it comes to ethics, what’s ethical to one, may not be to another.”
Ahead of a Series A raise, Goodments will use funds received in the equity crowdfunding raise to enhance the efficiency of revenue streams, accelerate growth and enter the UK market. With global expansion always on the cards, the app has been built to allow easy expansion into new markets – with a plug-and-play model and a suite of global partnerships, including their payment and data providers.
“We target the rapidly growing ethical mindset, those of us who want to ‘invest in the stuff we give a stuff about’, that’s not just an Australian thing. It’s a global trend. So we’ll now expand into the UK, with the US next,” Culver said.
Equitise co-founder Chris Gilbert believes that the Goodments app will be well received by the Equitise network.
“It’s a nice alignment that the people who want to invest in stuff they give a stuff about, can also invest and support the company that is giving them the opportunity to do so,” Gilbert said. “Equity crowdfunding is all about giving everyday investors the option to invest in companies they are passionate about and, as we’ve seen in the data, people are passionate about investing for good.”
