Bellarine outdoors company raises $1.2m through crowdfunding

A CROWDFUNDING campaign to take their Bellarine outdoor-wear label Zorali global has seen Cam and Elise Greenwood secure $1.2 million in investments.

A total of 1,062 investors combined to contribute the funds to go into the company’s environmental efforts.

Over the past three years, Zorali has planted almost 500,000 trees while providing adventure clothing that includes cosy fleece, tents, jackets and recycled goods.

For the investment campaign, the husband-wife duo set the minimum individual investment at $200 and at a maximum of $10,000 for retail investors.

Any investors looking to buy more than the retail figure was required to provide evidence of wholesale status.

Across the campaign, the average investment was just over $1,000, with investors occupying all four tiers of the campaign based on monetary value.

“We were amazed by the reach of the campaign and can’t thank our huge range of investors who jumped on board and bought their share into the company,” Mr Greenwood said.

“As a company we by far exceeded our goals of the campaign.

“We feel that by inviting our community into our business from day dot and forming great connections with those people over the last few years, it gave us an overwhelming positive response.”

The Zorali mantra has seen the company plant 10 trees for every product sold, whilst 100 trees have been planted with every sale of their “100 Tree Tees”.

“We’ve always been very conscious in design and have wanted to support the environment in every way we can,” Mr Greenwood said.

“Our mission going forward with the funds from investors is to not only continue to look after the environment and advocate for that, but to also expand our core items in our range and branch our business into the overseas market.

“Currently 90 per cent of our revenue is from Australia, so with the funds and the investors on board, we are really looking to get ourselves into the US as well as Japan in order to grow our business further.”

Mr Greenwood said those who participated in the crowdfunding would not only see financial benefits but also be part of a dedicated and welcoming community.

“Obviously as a shareholder and investor of the company, our buyers will get shares in the company, which they can profit from in multiple situations including public listings and bigger shareholders jumping on board.

“We hope that on top of financial gains comes a sense of community and passion that our shareholders can experience all together as we look to get our population out and enjoying the outdoors.”