PieShell
| Industry | Crowdfunding (food and beverage) |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | fundafeast |
| Founded | July 2015 |
| Founder | Cheryl Clements |
| Headquarters | New York City , USA |
| Website | pieshell |
PieShell is a crowdfunding website for food and beverage start-ups. The company is based in New York City, USA, and was launched by Cheryl Clements in October 2016.[1]
History
Founder Cheryl Clements named PieShell as a tribute to her mother's pie business, based in their home in Smiths Falls, Canada.[1] After working as a senior project manager with SAP SE software, Clements noticed that food and beverage start-ups were struggling to find funding.[1][2] On Kickstarter, for example, roughly 75% of all food and beverage projects would fail to meet their goal.[3] Clements believed that a specialized site would help these projects to find investors: "By focusing on one area, we give them an undiluted pool of support. People aren’t distracted by wrinkle-free pants or wireless earbuds."[2]
She first attempted a food crowdfunding platform in 2014, called fundafeast. After what Forbes called "lackluster results", the site was taken offline.[1]
In October 2016, Clements launched a new, reward-based crowdfunding site, PieShell. The venture was financed in part by a GoFundMe campaign.(NYBJ) The company operates out of a Spacious coworking space.[4][5] PieShell's new design sought to improve on fundafeast's flaws, viewing the previous site as a "beta test". The site began with four crowdfunding campaigns that included a hot dog truck and the no added-sugar ketchup brand Not Ketchup.[1] The initial campaigns raised a combined $61,000, and as of January 2017, PieShell had a 100% success rate for its campaigns.[1][6] Nutshell, a vegan nut bar company, raised $15,000 on the site in early 2017. In mid-2017, PieShell had more than 30 campaigns in various stages.[1]
Features
PieShell uses a stepping-stone funding system that requires a campaign to first raise 25% of its first stepping-stone from friends, family, or other sources via a private link. Only campaigns that meet this initial goal appear on the site to attract wider investment.[1] PieShell keeps 6% of the funds raised in a campaign, of which 1% is donated to Emma's Torch, a culinary job-skills program for refugees.[2]
To create a sense of community on PieShell, anyone who wishes to create a campaign must first pledge to another active campaign.[1] For funders, PieShell includes an "I don't want the rewards option" for those who simply want to help a campaign based on its story or goal. Clements said in February 2017 that 40% of the site's users were choosing this option.[3][7]
Clements stated in May 2017 that PieShell hopes to expand to include an equity crowdfunding division to its site. This addition would allow companies that run PieShell campaigns to scale up their operations.[1] Clements also plans to develop a mobile app for the site.[3]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Roberts, Nina (May 31, 2017). "PieShell Wants To Be The Crowdfunding Site For Food StartUps". Forbes. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
- ^ a b c Stern, Gary M. (November 21, 2016). "Crowdfunding site PieShell targets the food and beverage niche". New York Business Journal. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
- ^ a b c Cortese, Amy (February 27, 2017). "PieShell Helps Food Entrepreneurs Raise Funding, Step by Step". Locavesting. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
- ^ Hagan, Shelly (April 3, 2017). "People Are Paying to Work From Bars and Restaurants". Bloomberg. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
- ^ Mechling, Lauren (January 26, 2017). "Meet the Classpass of Coworking". Vogue. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
- ^ Kvidahl, Melissa (January 25, 2017). "What sets PieShell apart among crowdfunding sites?". New Hope. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
- ^ Pearl, Amy. "A Recipe For Crowdfunding With PieShell Founder Cheryl Clements". ComCap. Retrieved August 5, 2017.