Cannabis education and access company Montu Group has raised A$2 million via a crowdfunding campaign.
Montu MD Chris Strauch told the AFR the company opted for equity crowdfunding because it served as a trial run for any future initial public offering and allowed medicinal cannabis advocates to have a direct financial interest in the growth of the sector.
The company will use the funds to boost its marketing and attract more doctors on to the platform to service patients who need CBD-related treatments for anxiety and pain.
Strauch said: “Clearly in our case, we have seen that there was a very positive response to our mission and the way we built a business and the ability to create tangible results early on.”
The crowdfunding was enabled by changes to the Corporations Act that allowed proprietary limited companies to have an unlimited number of investors rather than the previously capped number of 50 non-employees.
It also allowed crowdsourced funding offers to be advertised in any medium, enabling Montu to promote the opportunity through targeted ads on social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook, and via PR and search engine marketing.
According to the AFR, the raising is in the top five of this type in Australia.
