Crowdfunding Brad struggles to inspire Australians
Australia’s first crowd-funded startup Brad (Perth Int’l) is battling to raise a targeted AUD2.9 million Australian dollars (USD2.1 million), while key “advisers” have distanced themselves from the project.
Only AUD3,821.42 (USD 2,807.48) has been raised so far, according to the crowdfunding platform set up by Brad Coombes, after whom the company is named.
A director at Fast Track Pilot Training in Perth, Coombes is promising to set up a “People’s Airline” in 12 to 14 months, but only if Australians trust him enough to donate non-refundable amounts of up to AUD100,000 (USD77,400). In exchange, they won’t get shares or securities in the airline, but “free” future tickets and complimentary carry-on luggage, redeemable over three years once the airline starts flying.
Only 27 donations have rolled in so far. Last week, The Australian reported the crowd-funding website had been taken down, saying the venture had stalled after donations had fallen well short of the target. The website, however, is now live again.
Coombes was not available for comment. His purported advisors, whose names have now been removed from the website, have distanced themselves from the project. “Our involvement with the brad airlines start-up did not meet with our expectations and we were no longer prepared to stake our reputations on it,” one such “advisor” told ch-aviation and asked that no reference be made to him “at any level” in connection with brad. Former Virgin executive John Thomas and Solomons – Solomon Airlines chief executive Brett Gebers told The Australian that their names had been used without consent.
As previously reported, the Perth-based company was registered with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) as the Airline Group Pty Ltd, d/b/a brad, on April 23, 2021, – a fact, the company claims, is proof that it is not a scam.
Terms and conditions are spelt out clearly on the website, but some of the small print appears to have changed. Whereas the company previously said it would retain donations while making a reasonable attempt to raise more capital if the crowdfunding failed, it now promises a refund should it fail to meet its initial target of AUD1 million (USD734 million) by midnight, December 31, 2021.
Brad proposes to operate an undisclosed number of twin-engine, single-aisle, narrowbodies on commercially viable domestic routes, promising fares as low as AUD50 (USD39) between East Coast cities and AUD100 (USD77) between Perth Int’l and the East Coast.