Tech startup Cake Equity secures AUD 3 Mn in seed funding

Gold Coast-based tech company Cake Equity (Cake) has raised US$2.2 Mn (AUD 3 Mn) in seed funding round, led by LAUNCH, TheSyndicate.com, and Rampersand. Other participating investors were Airtasker (ASX: ART) co-founder Jonathan Lui and Practice Ignition co-founder Guy Pearson. Cake had previously raised $1 Mn in 2020. 

“We are excited to back the Cake team as they build the next generation of equity management tools,” said Jason Calacanis of LAUNCH and The Syndicate.com.

Co-founded by Jason Atkins and Kim Hansen in 2018, the Software as a Service (SaaS) company works towards simplifying how startups and scaleups manage employee options, raise capital and manage shareholders. Cake’s platform aims to speed up the complicated process of managing and unlocking equity whilst remaining legally compliant. 

The target consumer segment is emerging un-listed businesses looking to raise money and seeking services and legal agreements to keep track of equity transactions. Cake further enables employers to better incentivise staff by cutting out some of the administration around offering employee share options. With more than 2,000 companies and 50,000 shareholders using its platform, the startup aims to leverage the latest funding to further expand into 20 new countries in the next 18 months. 

“At Cake, we want to be the catalyst for more startups to get funded so that they can change the world while making sure that their teams share in that success,” Cake Equity Co-Founder Jason Atkins said. “This round of funding will help us continue to deliver on our vision of creating more equity owners through cap tables that are easy to use, everywhere.” 

Investors are optimistic and noted that Cake is “further proof that Australian start-ups can create the best global technology solution to fundamental problems”.

“We’re inspired by Cake’s aspiration to empower more founders and their teams to change the world - because at Rampersand we share the same vision. Cake is further proof that Australian start-ups can create the best global technology solution to fundamental problems, and we look forward to accelerating Cake’s impact within the start-up ecosystem,” Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Rampersand, Paul Naphtali said.