Shebah cracks Australia’s crowdfunding record
Australia’s largest CSF offer to date
- Over 94% of investors in the Shebah offer were women, the largest representation of women in a public offer of securities globally that we know of
- Raised $3m from over 2,100 investors — the largest raise under Australia’s equity crowdfunding regime to date
- The largest offer to hit its maximum target — one of only three to date (all on the Birchal platform)
- Largest investment was $1m from an unnamed wholesale investor
- Notable investors include Jude Munro AO and advocate for women in sport, Danielle Warby
Australia’s only female-only ridesharing platform has smashed the Australian equity crowdfunding to raise $3m from over 2,100 investors on Birchal.
Shebah has rolled out nationally in Australia and is gearing up to launch into New Zealand and Asia amid a range of tech upgrades and other platform developments planned to meet demand for the service.
The company has come off the back of a whopping 190 per cent increase on number of users year-on-year, growth average is 8% revenue month on month.
The privately-owned company was founded by Melbournian George McEncroe and promises women with a ridesharing option with female-only drivers, as well as ridesharing safely for kids.
Shebah will continue to grow its services that also offer safe, flexible and rewarding work opportunities for women, allowing them to tap into the gig economy as rideshare drivers.
The company has a strong point of difference as women can also use the service to transport their children in car seats and boosters, all available to be booked via the app.
The national fleet of women drivers have Working with Children checks and as part of the driver on-boarding program, women receive financial education on superannuation, managing GST and insurance.
“Receiving this investment means that we can finally start to build out many of the features our users have been crying out for, and be in more cities where people need us”
says McEncroe.
Breaking records and pushing boundaries
Shebah’s $3m raise smashed the record for the largest equity crowdfunding offer under the regime to date, surpassing the previous record of $2.58m set by Xinja in February this year, just a few weeks’ ago.
However one record Shebah unfortunately expects it will hold for some time is female investor participation.
Over 94% of the investors in Shebah’s CSF offer were women. This result is a staggering five and a half times the average of all of Birchal’s previous offers which averaged 17% female investor participation.
It may also be a world first in terms of female investment in a public offer of securities.
Notable investors included Jude Munro AO and advocate for women in sport, Danielle Warby.
The largest investment was $1m from an unnamed wholesale investor.
We’re so thrilled that Shebah now holds this record. Shebah’s founder George McEncroe and her team are brilliant ambassadors, and a perfect case study for what is possible under the equity-crowdfunding regime in Australia now.
Prior to its Birchal CSF campaign, Shebah had been dismissed by Australia’s angel and VC investors. Their CSF offer included a $1m investment from an investor introduced to them through Birchal’s Expression of Interest process. (Perhaps the largest single investment under the CSF regime to date.)
Although Shebah is just the third company to reach its maximum target under the CSF regime (with all three being hosted by Birchal), Shebah’s offer is the largest to make this significant achievement yet.
How the campaign was run, and won
We worked closely with the Shebah team on a range of activities to promote the CSF offer. This included a series of investor events in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and a targeted media campaign that achieved national (and some international) coverage, including a cover page spot in the Australian Financial Review.
Coverage highlights:
