Startup Kea Outdoors has launched a crowdfunding campaign to further build the outdoor clothing brand.

The campaign allows the public to invest in the three-year-old company, and $60,000 was raised within the first hour of its launch.

Matt Butler, founder of Kea Outdoors, said the PledgeMe equity crowdfunding technique differs dramatically from the company’s past three Kickstarter campaigns.

“We are a company fully funded through crowdfunding campaigns,” said Butler. 

“To date, we have raised more than $700,000 from product-focused Kickstarter campaigns and sold 18,000 items to more than 8000 customers.” 

Since its founding in 2021, Kea Outdoors has grown internationally, with distribution centres in the US, Australia, and China, and is distributed to more than 50 countries.

Equity crowdfunding was initially offered in New Zealand 10 years ago. The funding strategy enables the general public to invest directly in private firms without typical brokerage services.