App/tech business of the week ~ LaunchMii

What? ~ A crowdfunding-matching platform that aims to bring live fundraising campaigns to the attention of those looking to invest.

With the proliferation of crowdfunding platforms, 1,200 at last count, the intention is to have one place where potential backers can go to view campaigns based on their own interests.

Where? ~ Newly launched website at www.launchmii.com.au, with both an Apple and Android native apps coming soon.

Who? ~ Former physiotherapist Rhod Arrieta attended the Founder Institute in Perth in 2015 before pairing up with software developer Kieran Mesquita a year later.

Quotation? ~ “I want to normalise crowdfunding into everyday conversations as if people were discussing banking or finance of companies. That is all crowdfunding is, another source of funding of ideas and innovations,” Mr Arrieta said.

$/News/Market? ~ Besides years of ‘sweat equity’, Mr Arrieta has invested $15,000.

The service launched in March 2017 for beta testing, during which it is being offered at no cost for users.

Crowdfunding has become an important source of funds for startups and product launches. Between 2014 and 2017, there were 33 million unique backers of crowdfunding campaigns, a third of which were repeat backers.

LaunchMii was launched on March 1 2017 and is ranked #2 in BNiQ Startups List.