First Aussie crowdfunding start-up exit Jayride gives investors back 107pc

Investors in airport transport start-up Jayride have made a 107 per cent return on their initial investment, in the first equity crowdfunding exit in the country.

It is the first time Jayride’s realised rate of return has been revealed, with the majority of investors who bought into its first round through VentureCrowd in December 2015 remaining investors in the business following its January IPO.

The first crowd-sourced equity funding raise was priced at 24¢ per share and was one of three rounds the company raised in this manner, equating to about $700,000. All up, the business had raised $15 million in capital, including $8 million from global venture capital network Follow[The]Seed, prior to listing earlier this year.

Jayride chief executive Rod Bishop told The Australian Financial Review the most important thing for tech companies in Australia was access to capital.

“Good ideas don’t die, they go overseas and succeed,” he said.

VentureCrowd founder Steve Maarbani seized upon Jayride’s success as a chance to promote the growing importance of crowdfunding to the local start-up community.

He said the lamented trend of local start-ups heading to the US due to lack of early funding would be greatly lessened by crowdfunding.

“ThreatMetrix is a great example. It went to the US, raised capital and was sold for $US817 million and that growth story was lost to Australia,” Mr Maarbani added.

When Jayride went public in late January on the ASX it was priced at 50¢ a share, earning it a valuation of more than $25 million.

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Source: First Aussie crowdfunding start-up exit Jayride gives investors back 107pc | afr.com