A Space Coast company has raised $1.2 million to build out its platform that allows almost anyone to invest in the final frontier of outer space.
Melbourne-based Spaced Ventures Inc. announced the seed round on Oct. 14.
As a result, the company will double its staff of five people and build out its crowdfunding investment platform for aerospace startups, co-founder and CEO Aaron Burnett told Orlando Inno.
In addition to bringing new jobs to the region, Spaced Ventures' growth opens up a new avenue for early-stage companies in Central Florida's thriving aerospace sector to land investment dollars.
More hires and more features
Spaced Ventures is an equity crowdfunding platform, which allows businesses to raise investment dollars from the general public instead of traditional venture capitalists or angel investors. Startups can solicit investment through Spaced Ventures, and users can invest as little as $100 in companies in exchange for shares.
Thanks to a fundraising round led by Greenwich, Connecticut-based WorldQuant Ventures LLC, the company can pump more than $1 million into hiring and further development of its crowdfunding portal.
Spaced Ventures will double to 10 employees in the next three months, with plans to employ 20 people by October 2022, Burnett said. That will include the addition of software development, community, operations, marketing, compliance and venture analysis positions, he added. "We would love to grow our team where we're based on the Space Coast. but we are open to remote candidates as we also have hubs in Texas and Toronto."
Spaced Ventures plans to add more features, payment options and open up to international investors, Burnett said. In addition, the firm is working on a matchmaking platform for accredited angel investors as well as a product that allows users to invest in a diversified portfolio of early-stage aerospace firms in one transaction, he added.
The company formed in 2020 and made the crowdfunding platform available to the public in September. Spaced Ventures reports it has received 100 applications from businesses that want to raise money through the site and 1,700 investor registrations. Three businesses so far have raised a combined $600,000 through the site.
Crowdfunding catches on
Meanwhile, equity crowdfunding last year gained significant traction with businesses and investors. Companies used the method to raise $215 million in 2020, up 105% from 2019, according to an analysis by equity crowdfunding education site CrowdWise. Plus, there were 358,000 participating investors in 2020, a 75% increase from the year before.
Crowdfunding for startups is catching on in Central Florida, too. For example, Orlando-based Miventure Inc. launched in 2020, and in spring 2021 it pivoted to an early-stage crowdfunded investment platform for early-stage businesses raising smaller, pre-Series A rounds. Miventure plans to facilitate $2 million in startup investment campaigns this year.
The early stages often are when startups rely on friends, family or their own savings to raise money. However, that is where many startups get stuck, Miventure Jason Crystal previously said. “If you don't have wealthy people in your network who can back your idea or believe in your idea, it's very difficult to get past the friends and family round. There are very few, if any, platforms that are focused on companies that are that early-stage and doing investment crowdfunding.”
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