19-year-old Kiwi attempts to raise 150K on PledgeMe

PledgeMe has hit another milestone, with the world's youngest ever equity crowdfunder launching a campaign on the platform to sell shares in his business.

Indy Griffiths, who is 19 years old, is using PledgeMe to give people the chance to buy part of his company, Parent Interviews.

Parent Interviews is an event management system for parents, teachers and schools. The company launched in 2013 and is now managing more than 50 schools and interviews for more than 23,000 students across New Zealand.

Through the campaign Griffiths is looking to raise $50,000–$150,000 by selling 4.8–13% of the company.

Anna Guenther, PledgeMe CEO, says Parent Interviews is targeting their already significant audience and is hoping to bring those who already use the service on board as investors.

Griffiths says their crowd mainly consists of parents and teachers who use Parent Interviews for their child's interviews.

"We're fans of the idea that the people who use and interact with Parents Interviews can be a part of our company as we start our global expansion," Griffiths says.

"Crowdfunding seemed like the right option, as it allows anyone to invest instead of a select group of investors.

"We're at a stage where we've built a product already used and loved by hundreds of thousands of parents and teachers across New Zealand, and now we want to grow."

With the money, Griffiths says the focus is to build the Parent Interviews team, improve the website further, and move into new markets.

"The number of schools and institutions in markets such as Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States is massive compared to New Zealand, and the design of Parent Interviews offers a 'one size fits all' solution for event management for schools and institutions in other markets," he says.

"This is a great goal for a start-up with existing customers and a large international market with ambitions to scale," Guenther says.

She says, "PledgeMe is proud to be supporting Indy's awesome business which is going to change the way in which parents schedule parent-teacher interviews, making everyone's lives easier.

"We're excited someone so young is taking the entrepreneurial leap and choosing to do it different with PledgeMe.

"Indy has already achieved so much at a young age, and we can't wait to see where he goes with some funding and his crowd behind him.