Imperative, a social enterprise seeking to help millennials find their purpose, recently did a seed round using the investment crowdfunding site Onevest. We've previously covered both Imperative, founded by Aaron Hurst, author of The Purpose Economy, and Onevest.
Arthur Woods, Chief Operating Officer of Imperative, explained the deal terms for the seed round, "We did a convertible note of $750k capped at $1 million and set to convert upon a series A raise in 2015." Woods notes that having reached the minimum threshold for closing the round they are excited to close, but still accepting new money.
Woods also noted that their success in this round leaves them thinking about future fundraising via crowdfunding, "Our positive experience on OneVest certainly leaves us inclined to leverage crowdfunding in our future investment rounds. It's helped us foster new relationships, gain greater visibility and hit our fundraising goals earlier."
Shahab Kaviani, Chief Marketing Officer of Onevest, which is the product of a combination of RockThePost (crowdfunding site) and CoFoundersLab (matchmaking for founders), explains the significance of deal for other social entrepreneurs, "Imperative is more than just a promising startup, with a unique vision. Imperative is a startup whose founders have unlocked all that Onevest offers to founders who take advantage of what we offer. Through a partnership with Onevest, Imperative was able to build their startup team, then go on to raise capital to scale their startup as they gained traction; all in one place." He added, "Onevest is helping entrepreneurs with the two most difficult hurdles in venture formation - talent and capital."
Kaviani went on, "We have more than 15,000 investors on our platform, and our investors are keen are various aspects of the companies their looking to invest in, including industries, location, and the types of founders running the business. It appears our investor base reflects the growing interest in amongst investors in general who are seeking socially responsible businesses. We don't have hard figures, but we're noticing more investors asking about businesses who operate on a double-bottom-line."
Woods explained what this transaction enables Imperative to do, "The funding we've raised in this round, largely thanks to our presence on Onevest, will enable us to expand our technical team, accelerate the build of our platform and successfully deliver it to over 10 corporate clients by the end of Q1. Imperative is already generating revenue and growing quarter over quarter."
Imperative is working to help everyone, especially millennials, to identify their purpose, "Imperative offers a series of self discovery experiences that help people understand what drives them, what they value and where they are at their best at work. With these new insights we enable people to personalize and enhance the way they manage their work, build their professional identities and engage other people in their work."
Kaviani explained the vision for Onevest, "Our vision for Onevest is to build a brand built on trust, by delivering on our promise to founders, and being transparent with as much data as possible, to equip investors to navigate this emerging asset class with care. Building on top of our foundation of trust we may then execute on our vision, which is to be the place where where entrepreneurs and investors can access talent and capital to transform ideas into successful companies." He concluded, "Onevest will reshape the private equity industry by democratizing access to early stage investing capital."
