FIRELIGHT CAMPS FAN INVESTMENT FLAMES WITH EQUITY CROWDFUNDING
Firelight Camps is a US company that create comfortable, stylish and revitalising camping experiences set in incredible locations. Having successfully established their first site, Firelight Ithaca, they are currently undertaking an equity crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for their second location, Firelight Phoenicia. International Glamping Business Editor Will Rusbridge caught up with co-founder Bobby Frisch.
Equity crowdfunding is used by earlystage unlisted companies (companies that are not listed on a stock market) to acquire funding by opening up investment to everyone. Previously, only very wealthy individuals and business angels were able to invest in start-ups, meaning that companies were forced to spend a lot of time and resources searching for that one perfect investor. Equity crowdfunding enables companies who are looking for investment to instead target a large group of people, ‘the crowd’, who all invest a small amount.
Equity Crowdfunding takes place online via equity investment platforms, each of which can have their own set of rules. These rules can apply to a large number of criteria including minimum funding goals, a minimum amount that has to be reached or the campaign will be cancelled, or the requirements someone has to meet to become an investor. Firelight Camps was founded by Bobby and Emma Frisch whose love of food, travel and the great outdoors led them to the hospitality industry. “Emma and I fell in love with hospitality when we opened
and managed a boutique hostel in Nicaragua following my time in the Peace Corps. We were inspired by the many eco-hotels in Latin America and wanted to create a similarly sustainable, naturebased experience closer to home. Graduate school at Cornell University brought us to Ithaca, NY and upon graduation, it was a natural progression for us to combine our love of camping and stylish hotels to birth Firelight Camps.” Firelight Ithaca is located just five miles from the vibrant little city of Ithaca in
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