It was on a trip to Italy back in 2007 that Tom Maclean fell in love with the Aperitivo, the classic Italian cocktail. This inspired Tom to return to Australia and found his own company, SOFI Spritz, that would put an Aussie twist on an old favourite.
Since starting the company in 2013, Tom has experienced exponential growth domestically, growing from their initial launch at the Bondi Farmers Market to being stocked in over 2000 locations Australia-wide, including Dan Murphys, BWS, Vintage Cellars, First Choice, and even on Virgin flights.
In 2016 Tom appeared on the Australian series of Shark Tank, catching the eye of tech investor Steve Baxter and Greencross founder Glen Richards, who joined forces to offer $130,000 investment.
Going from strength to strength, they went on to win the Best Innovation award at the 2017 Australian Drinks Awards.
Their next challenge? Building a sales team to tackle worldwide distribution.
“It’s been hard enough to get distribution across Australia, let alone the world” says Tom, “but we would love to see SOFI become a world class brand.”
With demand for their brand growing and new, high profile deals they needed capital fast, turning
to fintech, to provide a unique combination of working capital and equity funding.
“Timelio and Equitise both had experience in our space, working with innovative drinks companies,
and Equitise had run multiple campaigns for alcohol brands.”
Raising $550,000 on equity crowdfunding platform, Equitise, enabled Tom to get the investment he
needed quickly from a large community of investors. This injection of capital, together with Timelio’s
invoice finance, has provided funding that is proportional to their peak periods and eased cash
flow strain.
“Timelio is a great fit for our needs, allowing the flexibility to access capital when we need it and
providing the funding to grow with us. Finding the right funding partners while we grow has been
critical to our success” says Tom.
Regarding their plans for the future, Tom shares “We are just beginning our export journey which is
super exciting and we have some amazing new products in our development pipeline.”
Read more on Equitise here.
Great company to deal with, easy process to follow and staff are very helpful.
FIONA ORODISIO
David and his team have made this process from set up to management of each invoice simple and easy navigate. The website for managing the invoices is easy to use and provides all details required. The team are responsive to queries knowledgeable with their help and advice. Thanks Timelio Team!
NICKY STEELE
Setup is very easy and the Timelio team were extremely helpful throughout the entire process. Funding was approved and available within 24 hrs as promised. I would highly recommend Timelio.
MICHAEL BEGG
Timelio was the answer to our funding needs. They are willing to listen and recognise that not all businesses are the same! They took time to understand our business and our strategy. The service is easy to manage, responsive and flexible. The fees are clear and upfront.
ELAINE BURROWS
The Timelio platform has worked extremely well for my company. Every invoice we have submitted has been financed with a minimum of delay or fuss. I feel very willing to recommend it to any company that has solid invoices but needs to improve its cashflow.
TED GANNAN
Great alternative for new and coming companies to manage stock, receivables and growth. Fast and with good systems to make experience really smooth.
EMIR LOPEZ
We love Timelio and have been funding some of our biggest customers. The platform is easy to use and we get a quick turnaround with funds into our account. It has made our cashflow improve immensely. Their fees are the most competative in the market. I would not hesitate in recommending Timelio.
MELINDA MINA GNIOT
Timelio is not your average invoice factoring company. They are very innovative with their approach to lending - even with debtors funding. I am impressed with how efficient they are in pulling the deal together - they have taken my old funding partner and myself by surprise.
EDMOND TERN
We found Timelio at this years Xero conference, and it was very 'Timelio' if you get my drift. Within a week Charlotte and her team helped turn our cash flow problems around. Timelio is a very important partner in our business and we look forward to growing with you.
FLYNN DUNTON
Timelio is a truly unique financial service that will work close with your business to achieve its goals and assist with growth. Coming from a history of using companies like Scottish Pacific and Bibby financial services I can clearly state that Timelio is a much more business friendly and well structured institue with no hidden charges and uncertainties.
DAVID FREEMAN
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