Funding round background, valuation and funding target
Oceanvolt is a Finnish company that designs and manufactures electric motors for sailboats. The company holds patents for innovative propulsion systems on several key markets.
Oceanvolt originally raised €2M on Invesdor.com in the summer of 2019. This second funding round took place from 26 August till 8 October 2020, with the original funding goal of €400,000 to €1,500,000.
Marketing activities
Media relations
Oceanvolt’s campaign was covered in several media during the funding round, including coverage in IBInews.com, Plugboats.com and Kauppalehti.fi. The estimated circulation of these online media is over 106,000. These media represented key audiences for Oceanvolt. The industry outlets reach boating enthusiasts outside Finland, and Kauppalehti is read by many Finnish investors.
Newsletter outreach
Invesdor sent newsletters about the round in Finnish and English to its over 32,000 subscribers once a week in the round’s public phase. Oceanvolt sent newsletters to their ca. 4,000 subscribers once a week during the round. Both Oceanvolt and Invesdor also did funding round pre-marketing: followers were called to leave their email on the pitch preview page and Oceanvolt website to be notified when the round opens. These calls raised more than 500 contacts.
Social media, search engine marketing & paid advertising
Invesdor published several organic posts of the funding round on its social media channels on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Paid social media and search engine marketing was done mostly via Facebook and Google Ads. Additionally, online banner ads were purchased in selected business media, e.g. Kauppalehti.
Oceanvolt also co-operated with Sailing La Vagabonde, influencer couple who have been sailing and documenting their life since 2014. They released a video mentioning Oceanvolt and included a link in their release to Oceanvolt’s pitch page.
Round results
The equity issue was highly successful: Oceanvolt raised the round’s limit twice to accommodate for the demand. The first raise was to €2M, the second to €2.5M. In total, the round raised €2,250,360 and brought Oceanvolt over 500 new shareholders.
According to estimated figures from Google Analytics, email and direct traffic were the key channels for round revenue, bringing in 33% and 25% of the capital invested (although these figures are estimates instead of exact numbers).
Best round marketing practices
1) Maintain a steady marketing flow, but don’t spam.
“For most of our fans, the funding round isn’t why they follow us, so I didn’t want to spam them with only that. We timed our newsletters so that we had other news to share, like announcing two racers in the Vendée Globe competition using our propulsion systems, our co-operation with sailing legend Jimmy Cornell, and so on”, Oceanvolt Marketing Manager Anna Hietanen says.
2) Time your activities right.
“We announced some great news items on the round’s final weeks, like Baltic Yachts selecting Oceanvolt motors for their new line of boats, and the Sailing La Vagabonde co-operation. These helped boost attention on the round’s final days,” Hietanen says.
3) Communicate within your team.
Ville Eromäki, Invesdor’s Director of Investor Relations, highly recommends regular update meetings during the round. “Get the team together at least once a week to discuss progress, overview and next steps. It helps you optimize your approach at the right time. Good internal communication also helps to manage the stress of a hectic round.”
