MonieWorx, a crowdfunding marketplace regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has closed its Encore Campaign, raising an impressive N260 million in just seven days.
This is a milestone achievement for MonieWorx, its investing and fundraising partners as well as the alternate finance marketplace. MonieWorx is operated by Obelix 4.1.1 Alternative Finance
Limited, a SEC-licenced operator of regulated markets for investors and issuers of crowd securities.
In its pioneer campaign, dubbed “100-in-10”, six months ago, MonieWorx raised N100 million for
three Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in 10 days. This created a groundswell that occasioned an encore campaign during which N260 miliion was raised for seven SMEs in 10 days.
Three of the SMEs that listed debt securities on MonieWorx® during this encore campaign –
Megavision Lighting Limited, Online Health Company Limited and Worthrust Resource Limited – achieved 100 per cent subscription within six days of listing, while the other four SMEs – Beehive School Limited, Jade & Mary Paper Mills Limited (trading as Cobhams Manufacturing), Sentient XT Creative Services Limited and 8ight Unique Global Telecoms Limited – achieved 100 per cent subscription a day after; bringing the encore campaign to closure in seven days after successfully achieving 100 per cent subscription.
This success highlights the commitment of the MonieWorx to creating a viable alternative marketplace
for investors seeking safe and viable investment opportunities and SME businesses seeking working and
growth capital.
The campaign saw the debut of GCN Crowd Notes, (priced at 19 per cent) – a fixed income product with a cover – that was structured in response to the feedback from the MonieWorx community of investors.
Members of the community had lost as much as ₦100 million to ponzi schemes. The design of the GCN Crowd Note is intended to provide principal protection thus assuaging the concern and inoculating against past trauma.
MAX Crowd Notes – the vanilla offering on MonieWorx -was designed for investors who want to optimise their returns and was priced at 21 per cent per annum.
In keeping with one of its unique value propositions of making every Friday a payday, it is noteworthy that the encore campaign ended on Wednesday August 23rd and the first interest payment to investors
happened on Friday, August 25th
Payday Friday is a sacrosanct proposition on MonieWorx®. The encore campaign attracted strong interest from Nigerians in the Diaspora – particularly those resident in the United States, India, Canada, the United Kingdom, China, Netherlands, Finland, Germany, Austria, and Philippines. In response,
MonieWorx engaged this audience by hosting interactive sessions on Instagram Live and X Spaces,
ensuring transparency and building the trust necessary to grow the MonieWorx community solidifying
transparency and trust as the Campaign progressed.
On SME selection process as a critical step in protecting investor funds and preserving the platform’s zero default record, COO of MonieWorx, Adesola Adeyinka said: “The screening committee admits only established and thoroughly vetted SMEs as fundraisers. Beyond the obvious financial screening, 360-degree references are independently obtained on both the business and its promoters to ascertain that their characters and values are in alignment”. She further said that “in the just concluded
cohort, only a fifth of the shortlisted applicants were successful”.
The CEO of Cobham Manufacturing, Adetokunbo Balogun said: “Raising on MonieWorx is
cheaper, faster and way more convenient than raising with a traditional bank”.
A Canada-based investor, Grace Aondona also said: “The essence of investing is to beat inflation,
and MonieWorx takes me closer to that goal than any other legitimate investing app in Nigeria”.
A doctoral student at De Montfort University in the UK, Oye Oladejo, is currently covering MonieWorx as part of her research study on crowdfunding and alternative financing for MSMEs in Nigeria. She said: “The MonieSessions on X and Instagram were very insightful. I see that MonieWorx customer
propositions compare favourably with what obtains in other climes”.
Some members of the audience at the X Spaces MonieSessions on 21st August said: “It was
engaging and insightful, with great time management. There were no rambling or boring people”.
The success of this encore campaign underscores the power of collective investing, with fundraisers
bringing their network to the marketplace, many investors from the pioneer campaign returned in a show of trust, while many small ticket first time investors took advantage of low entry ticket price of N1,000 with subsequent increments of N50 thereafter.
The platform’s inclusive approach allowed a diverse pool of investors to participate thus encouraging investment across all income levels and a renewed vigour in the fight against keeping funds idle.
