Hardbacon: Why we launched an equity crowdfunding campaign in the middle of a bear market

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Hardbacon | Julien Brault | Jun 16, 2022

Julien Brault Hard Bacon - Hardbacon:  Why we launched an equity crowdfunding campaign in the middle of a bear market

When we launched our equity crowdfunding round in May, the stock market was down 20% year-to-date and the value of Bitcoin had fallen 35%. While many of our investors were eager to reinvest, it was also obvious that many of our investors were impacted by the downturn and could decide not to reinvest in Hardbacon.

That said, postponing the round didn’t necessarily seem like the right decision. First, I didn’t have a crystal ball to tell me when, in the future, the markets would be more conducive to such funding rounds. Second, I knew that by successfully closing a round despite the economic environment, Hardbacon would be better positioned than ever for what comes next.

And it worked, since we reached our funding goal of $500,000 within a week of launching the round!

Right now, many fintechs are cutting positions in order to survive longer without seeking new capital. However, at Hardbacon, we’re actually looking to expand our team to accelerate our growth and to solidify our status as a key player in personal finance and financial product comparison tools in Canada.

As we plan to expand through acquisitions while simultaneously investing in our organic growth, the shortage of traditional sources of capital for start-ups could work in our favour. As VC funding is bound to get more scarce, our competitors will seek to sell themselves and we should be well positioned to snag the best in breed!

Hardbacon: a growth success story

As of today, Hardbacon reaches at least 232,000 unique visitors every month through its website, 38,000 registered users on its mobile app, and that doesn’t include our affiliate network and other owned websites! In February 2020, our website was only reaching 12,000 unique monthly visitors and our revenue was 10x lower than today. That’s what made people think that Hardbacon was an overnight success.

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In fact, nothing could be further from the truth! We tested one-thousand-and-one business models, price structures, and market segments! Most of our hypotheses were rejected by the market up until we embraced our current business model back in 2020. It is the affiliate marketing model.

Realistically, it means that we help our clients, who for the most part are financial institutions, acquire customers. On the other hand, contrary to traditional media which sells ads, we invoice based on results, which might be a credit card application, an account opening, or a sign up. If you’ve ever used our credit cards comparison tool and found a card you liked, chances are that we earned a bit of money!

If you want to know more about our business model and the terms of our current round, I invite you to visit our FrontFundr page.


NCFA Jan 2018 resize - Hardbacon:  Why we launched an equity crowdfunding campaign in the middle of a bear marketThe National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada’s Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org

 



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