Have you ever thought about what you would do if you ran an equity crowdfunding campaign and you didn’t hit your minimum goal? Would you rethink it and try again? Or would you give up?
HT Systems opted for the first option, and it paid off.
The team from Canterbury-based assistive tech company HT Systems are passionate about enabling people with disabilities to live better lives. They’ve been doing this with their flagship product – the Kera sit2sit, an award-winning hoist that makes it physically possible for a single caregiver to safely move the elderly or disabled who can’t move themselves – eg from bed to chair, or chair to toilet.
They had worked hard on securing a distribution partnership for the Australian market and now needed funds to grow, in both Australia and New Zealand.
When they didn’t meet their initial funding goal in their most recent PledgeMe round, they decided to revise their plans and aim for the absolute minimum amount of funding they needed and give it another go.
That was a good call because they aced that goal – raising more than $400k in two weeks. They ended up raising $150k more than their minimum target, and $100k more than their unsuccessful round.
We noticed they did four key things:
- They revised their growth plan and set a smaller goal
- They were upfront about not making their initial goal and posted publicly
- They contacted all of the pledgers individually and made it really easy for them to repledge
- They followed up
What were they equity crowdfunding to do?
The team needed an injection of funds so they could grow into a global market. They knew, from a previous crowdfund, that they had a group of supportive shareholders and they saw the Kera sit2sit gaining traction, selling well and winning awards.
They also wanted to start launching new products through their existing distribution channels – like their travel hoist and hoist vest.
What happened when they launched their campaign?
They launched their equity crowdfund launched in September 2023 and started well, with over $40k in pledges coming in within the first 48 hours. There were some larger pledges of $50k and $25k coming in mid-campaign (alongside many others valued in the thousands).
How did they market their equity crowdfund?
To promote their campaign, HT Systems hosted live interviews on social media and published a series of short case studies featuring satisfied customers, including this one from Roger Loveless (who is also an investor):
As someone with muscular dystrophy, I know that the biggest issue for a disabled person is maintaining independence. The Kera sit2sit has changed my life… [it] has allowed me to continue living at home and even travel the world. People often don’t realise how important that independence is…..
The people at HT Systems really gave me the confidence to invest. The product is grounded in good quality engineering and they have backed that up with the right certifications and intellectual property protections. I have decided to support them again because I know that this growth period is crucial for success. I’m excited about the new products in the pipeline.
Meet our equity crowdfunding lead Jacky Laverty. Jax has decades of experience in investment raising and helping businesses with their growth strategy.
Jax thinks HT System went “over and above” (literally) with the videos they shot to promote their crowdfund.
When they were really close to the end of their campaign, Alex created this video message where he was videod being lifted high off the ground, using the new hoist vest they wanted to fund through this round. I thought that was such a super passionate move for an engineer to do that.
They brought in extra marketing support
Another factor in HT System’s success was bringing in seasoned marketing pro Erin Jackson, founder and director of Narrative Campaigns. One of Erin’s specialties is crowdfunding. She’s helped Happy Cow (rounds one and two), Collett’s Corner, Indigo & Iris, Christchurch Bike Share and EttieKits reach their crowdfunding targets.
Says Erin:
HT Systems are a truly special company, with epic people on an ambitious journey … Hearing the life-changing difference that their inventions have made is phenomenal – and it just confirmed for us that this was a story that needed to be shared more widely.
She and her team approached the the storytelling process in a couple of different ways; starting with those that had used the products that HT Systems is developing. That immediate circle (which included both users and their whānau) were all strong advocates, and the natural starting point for the community.
We then grew that community across emails, social media and earned media placements, by helping people understand about the prospective benefits for users, and talking about reducing the impact on carers (for the Kera), which helped us to reach a wider audience.
Between Richard’s background as a banker and Alex as an engineer, Erin appreciated that both are straight-up, authentic communicators and she wanted to ensure that their voice shone through clearly in all of the communications.
This is why, for example, you’ll see in the announcement for the re-started equity campaign, an acknowledgment that the first round hadn’t worked – but there was a commitment to trying again.
Nearly there!
Despite a flurry of pledges amounting to over $34,000 in the final 48 hours, HT Systems reached just over $300,000, around $200,000 short of what they needed to meet their minimum funding target.
So they checked in on their growth plan and tried again, reaching for a lower minimum target of $250,000 to fund a smaller growth plan.
What happened when they tried again?
Alongside a general update, the team sent individual emails to those who had already pledged to their crowdfund, ones like this:
Hi Joy
I just quickly wanted to follow up and see if you can repledge to our new campaign. We are getting close to our minimum of $250k and would love to have you onboard as part of the team and transforming people’s lives.
Just reply to this email and I will get the PledgeMe team to process your pledge to our new campaign.
You can also pledge on our new PledgeMe campaign page
If you haven’t made up your mind, that’s fine. What can we do to convince you? Reply to this email and ask me anything? Or Alex and I are happy to call you and answer your questions.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Richard.
And it all paid off.
In October 24, 2023, the HT Systems team posted the following on social media:
We are thrilled that after only 6 days we have passed our minimum funding of $250,000.
Huge thanks to the 72 people who have put their money behind our vision to bring innovative mobility solutions to the world.
It’s a hard thing to read a market and, as always, we were ambitious, which didn’t quite work the first time around. We regrouped, listened to our investors and advisors and came back with a winning offer.
When their equity crowdfund closed at the start of November 2023, 109 people had pledged $409,140, enabling the team to move forward with their plans – and at a higher level than they had originally reset.
Jax was so proud of them.
They had a strategy in place for what they were crowdfunding for. They could see that at the time of their raise they couldn’t reach their minimum in time, so they rechecked their strategy to raise the amount that would make a difference for their growth. Then they actually did raise their goal and had some bigger investors come through that helped them go well over their minimum.
Richard described the campaign as a “rollercoaster,” but said they were excited to “successfully raise the funds that allowed our business to move forward and get our groundbreaking solutions out to more people around the world.”
What’s next for HT Systems?
HT Systems were recently nominated as finalists in the NZ Hi-Techawards, in the Tech for Public Good category. They’re currently running a wholesale investment round targeted partly at those who signaled an interest as a direct result of their successful PledgeMe campaign. You can read about it here.
To learn more about the Kera sit2sit click on this link.
