We’re excited to share that August 2024 marks our 10th birthday - 10 years since we launched New Zealand’s first private equity platform.
It seems like just yesterday that Snowball Effect’s founders, Richard Allen, Simeon Burnett, Josh Daniell, and Francis Reid, took the bold step in August 2014 of launching an online platform that offered New Zealand investors a new class of equity investments: high-growth private Kiwi businesses. Since then, Snowball Effect has flourished, facilitating more investment in New Zealand than all other equity crowdfunding marketplaces together.
In this article, we reflect on ten key highlights from the last 10 years at Snowball Effect.
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Snowball Effect launches one of the first equity crowdfunding platforms in New Zealand (2014)
Snowball Effect was one of the first two providers in New Zealand to be granted a licence by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) in July 2014. We were the first to facilitate an offer under the equity crowdfunding regulations (see below).
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Renaissance Brewing, NZ's first-ever equity crowdfunding offer (2014)
Renaissance Brewing made history on 23 August 2014 by successfully closing New Zealand's first-ever equity crowdfunding offer via Snowball Effect. The Marlborough-based craft beer brewery successfully raised $700,000, reaching its target in 13 days.
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Invivo’s record-breaking raise (2015)
New Zealand wine and spirits company Invivo set a New Zealand crowdfunding record by raising over $1m in less than 24 hours. Invivo then became the first New Zealand company to raise $2m, setting a further local crowdfunding record.
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Orchestra is launched by the Snowball Effect team (2019)
The idea for Orchestra first came to the team at Snowball Effect after they saw first-hand the need for an equity and investor relations platform to manage investors and companies raising capital. What started out as a share registry platform quickly evolved into a stand-alone company with a suite of additional features launching over the subsequent years.
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$42m raised for New Zealand companies (FY22)
We celebrated our best year to date in FY22, when we raised over $40m in capital for New Zealand businesses. Key capital raises over this period included, ProjectWorks, Ossis, ArchiPro, Jeuneora, Hello Period (formerly Hello Cup), UBCO, SuiteFiles, ilabb, Natural Paint, Anihana, along with raises for an Icehouse Ventures Fund and OurCrowd Fund.
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ArchiPro raises $10m over 12 months (2021-2022)
Architecture, building, and design marketplace ArchiPro worked with Snowball Effect to raise $10m in growth funds over a 12-month period. We assisted ArchiPro by connecting them with institutional and wholesale investors, helping fuel ArchiPro’s growth, and setting them up to achieve further international investment of $30m from Tiger Global at the end of 2022. The company’s success has provided realised shareholder returns.
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Successful alumni companies and investor returns
Several alumni companies are now delivering returns to investors via a sale of the business, paying regular dividends, or offering liquidity to early investors as part of raising new capital. Of note was the sale of New Zealand orthopaedic implant design company Ossis, which was acquired by US medical technology leader Zimmer Biomet.
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The sale of Orchestra (2024)
In early 2024, we were thrilled to see our friends at Orchestra announce that Sharesies had acquired them. Since its early days of development by the Snowball Effect team, Orchestra’s platform has developed a suite of features and is trusted by thousands of companies and investors worldwide, with notable customers ranging from Les Mills and Parkable to MyHR and Forsyth Barr. Snowball Effect will continue to use Orchestra as our shareholder management tool and to distribute shareholder communications.
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The launch of Snowball Effect Funds (2024)
This year, we’re excited to launch a new offering for our investors: Snowball Funds. This new offering will allow investors to access a suite of leading managed funds to complement their existing portfolio. Investors can browse top-tier funds and invest in the funds via Snowball Effect’s platform.
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$200m raised for New Zealand business (2024)
In 2024, we celebrate raising over $200m in capital for New Zealand businesses. Since we launched 10 years ago, we’ve worked with a range of high-growth private Kiwi businesses across various industries, including food and beverage, software, financial services and fintech, consumer goods, hardware, and MedTech.
As we celebrate 10 years of Snowball Effect, our commitment to supporting New Zealand companies, funds and investors remains stronger than ever. As we look ahead, we’re focused on continuing to play a pivotal role in New Zealand’s private market landscape.
