Why Moley Robotics is equity crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is changing the way inventors bring new products to the marketplace. Here at Moley Robotics, we want you to join us in being part of that change.
We’re embarking on a campaign with leading UK-based equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs that gives investors in the UK and Europe the opportunity to take an ownership stake in our company — for investment as small as £10.
We believe this campaign is about more than raising money. It’s about welcoming new partners. It’s about giving others a chance to support our vision and help us bring that vision closer to reality.
What is our vision?
We believe in a simple, revolutionary idea: that our internet-connected Moley kitchen, robotic arms and all, can create dishes as good as those made by the world’s most talented chefs. We’ve already built a proof of concept prototype. Our invention employs motion-capture technology to trace the movements of the world’s top chefs as they prepare their best dishes. Our device’s space-age, robotic hands can then recreate those masterpieces — right in your kitchen. We believe that one day, you’ll be able to install our cutting-edge technology in your home at a cost that’s comparable to a traditional kitchen renovation.
Those who’ve seen our first prototype in action know we’re not bluffing. “The result is uncanny,” wrote The Telegraph newspaper. The Moley robotic chef makes an “excellent crab bisque,” said The Economist magazine. “The dextrous hands are able to faithfully reproduce the movements of a human hand, cooking up Michelin-starred delicacies with all the skill and flair of a master chef,” wrote the Reuters news agency.
Now, by making 2.5% of shares in Moley Robotics available to the public in the UK and EU through the Seedrs crowdfunding site, we’re opening the door to new partners. We’re doing that because we believe equity crowdfunding is the right way to bring our company to the next stage of its development.
So what is “equity crowdfunding,” anyway?
Equity crowdfunding is a mechanism that allows the general public, via online platforms, to invest in small startup companies with large potential for growth. The process opens up an opportunity to the average person that has long been available to deep-pocketed venture capitalists and angel investors. Equity crowdfunding is also different, in a crucial way, from what’s known as “rewards crowdfunding.” A rewards-based crowdfunding campaign typically offers backers predetermined prizes and benefits in exchange for contributions. For example, a musician might offer a copy of their new album. A photographer might offer a framed picture.
For years, popular rewards-based platforms, such as Kickstarter or Indiegogo, weren’t permitted to let entrepreneurs offer ownership stakes in their companies. But legislative and regulatory changes now make that possible. Seedrs, the platform we’ve chosen for our UK and European campaign, was the first British equity-based crowdfunding platform to receive approval from the UK Financial Services Authority in 2012.
On April 5 of that same year, US President Barack Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, allowing the practice in America. Officials in the US then spent the next several years finalizing the rules. Now, in 2016, their task is finished, and equity crowdfunding is kicking off in the United States for the first time. Check out seedinvest.com if you want to know more.
Equity crowdfunding means that in exchange for your investment, you’ll get to share in the future of our enterprise, including our successes, our challenges, our risks and our rewards.
We’re offering our new investors some additional benefits.
All Seedrs’ pledgers will get exclusive early access to purchase the Moley Kitchen, and an opportunity to shape the technology and online recipes. All pledgers who invest over £1,000 will receive a discount on the kitchen and technical support. To become a Moley VIP Club member, pledgers who invest over £3,000 will get a once a week free grocery delivery for a recipe of your choice for your kitchen to cook in the first year of purchasing. Pledging £20,000 and above grants you the opportunity to attend an invitation-only special event demonstrating the Moley Robotic Kitchen in action together with a food tasting, and if you invest £30,000 and more, you will get to sit down and have lunch with our CEO, Mark Oleynik.
What are we going to do with the money?
With the funds raised through crowdfunding, we plan to develop a new, complete, industrial-quality, functional workstation prototype for the European market, including utensils and essential kitchen equipment. We will develop further cooking techniques and expand the recipe library to up to 100 recipes. We hope to develop initial infrastructure requirements for control and manage the food supply chain to provide the pre-prepared ingredients to the highest quality in containers designed specifically for the Moley robot.
Join us, won’t you?
We see this process as the beginning of a new dialogue between our company and our supporters — investors, customers and those who plan to be both. We want to know what you want your Moley to be able to accomplish in your kitchen. We think an equity crowdfunding campaign will help us get the word out about what we’re doing and about how much we hope to accomplish. To those who are eligible, we invite you to join us by taking an equity stake in our company.
We welcome investors who believe that delicious, healthy food is a fundamental part of living well, and who agree with us that technology can change peoples’ lives for the better.
We believe in our company. We believe in our invention. We’ve got the talent and the technology to make this dream into a reality. We welcome those who share our dreams, and who want to come along with us on our journey.
