BabyQuip, a Santa Fe-based startup, has opened a crowdfunding campaign as the latest move to raise equity-based capital for its baby and party gear rental service.
The campaign, run through the site StartEngine, has an investment target of $2.31 million. It has a minimum investment size of just under $250.
BabyQuip's is different than some common crowdfunding campaigns. Instead of the public giving various sums of money toward the campaign for general financing with no promise of a return, BabyQuip's StartEngine campaign is equity-based, meaning that investors in the campaign are buying shares of the company.
The startup is selling its shares at a price of $1.07 through the campaign.
"We are excited to bring our StartEngine crowdfunding to our community of quality providers, customers, as well as to the general public who want to support growing companies that solve a real everyday problem," Fran Maier, BabyQuip's CEO and acting chief financial officer, said in a statement to Albuquerque Business First.
According to the campaign's website, money raised through the crowdfunding campaign will go toward more international expansion for the Santa Fe startup, which has existing services in countries in Oceania and the Caribbean, as well as some European cities. It hopes to expand further into Mexico, Central America and more European cities with the new financing.
And the company also wants to build out its network of providers - independent contractors who deliver baby gear and party equipment to families. The startup says that it has more than 1,700 providers on board.
Its party gear rental service rolled out in April of this year. BabyQuip also launched a mobile application in December 2022, which over 60,000 people have downloaded, according to the campaign's website.
Maier founded BabyQuip in 2016, her latest venture in a long career of entrepreneurship that started with the dating website Match.com. The startup reported nearly $2.75 million in total assets as of the end of fiscal year 2022, its StartEngine campaign website notes.
The campaign has raised over $266,000 at the time of publishing. BabyQuip has raised around $8.5 million in venture funding to date.
