In this article: Yelli’s first public investment round is open on Wefunder. We’re inviting our friends, family, clients and supporters to check out this unique opportunity to invest in our future.
What a great year 2023 was!
This was our first full year on the market, and we were able to accomplish a lot, including onboarding 50+ restaurant teams, fixing all bugs in Yelli 1.0, and developing Yelli 2.0 by incorporating user feedback.
It’s been a great start, and we’re ready to take things to the next level.
Last year we opened our first investment opportunity, which is a community crowdfunding round on the platform Wefunder.
Since Yelli was founded in 2019, we have been founder-funded (aka “bootstrapped”) with no outside investments. When we decided it was time to open an investment round, we wanted to give our friends, family, clients and supporters the opportunity to invest first.
Community crowdfunding is just that - a fundraising round that is open to a wide range of people, not just accredited investors.
There are many platforms that are used for crowdfunding, some you may be familiar with including Kickstarter and GoFundMe.
Wefunder is a crowdfunding platform exclusively for pre-IPO startups. Wefunder was the first startup to raise funding on Wefunder, raising over $20 million from about 8,500 investors. We've since funded $500+ million into thousands of companies, including Mercury, Substack, Replit, Arrived, Rappi, Gingko Bioworks, Checkr, EquipmentShare, Ironclad and over 120 Y Combinator companies.
The goal for this round is to raise $300k. We have already almost reached 60k, so we’re off to a great start!
The funds raised in this round will be used primarily for product development. We are launching Yelli 2.0 in phases over the next 8-12 months, and an accompanying marketing campaign will be launched as well.
Additionally, funds will be used for daily operations and overhead expenses
At this stage, anyone can invest in Yelli! That’s the great thing about a crowdfunding platform like Wefunder. No accreditation needed, and the minimum investment is just $100.
Personally, what I think is cool about this structure is that people who are currently using Yelli - servers, bartenders, restaurant managers and chefs - are able to access early ownership in a technology that they are actually benefiting from.
Other ideal investors would be anyone in the hospitality industry or food and beverage industry who is looking to get in early on a great investment opportunity.
You should invest in Yelli if you believe that there is a need for a great restaurant training platform!
At this early stage, investments have a greater chance of high returns. Getting in early means that you're investing when the company’s valuation (ours is currently $3m) is projected to increase greatly over the next 2-5 years and beyond.
Of course, any investment is a risk, and startup investments are especially risky. You shouldn’t invest any amount that you would be uncomfortable losing.
Click here to check out our full campaign on Wefunder, including an intro video and an in-depth breakdown of our business plan, team, and more.
If you decide to pledge an investment, you can also do that on the Wefunder page linked above. Simply click “Invest” in the top right corner to get started.
We hope you join us in the journey to create the best training platform for the restaurant industry. If you have any questions feel free to contact us at any time.