Aussie app startup raises $1M through crowd-sourced funding campaign
Australian tech startup Cogniss closed its successful equity crowd-sourced funding (CSF) campaign on 2 December 2021, raising almost four times its initial target, securing $1,121,893 million from 302 individual investors.
The success of the CSF will enable the startup to activate its plans for growth, both in Australia and globally, with CEO and Founder Leon Young now planning to launch a private investment round in early Q1 2022, according to a statement.
Young says, "We are thrilled with the results of this campaign and are so excited to welcome our 302 new shareholders to the Cogniss family.
"This funding injection means we can press 'go' on our scale up plans immediately - expanding our team of talented developers, sharing the Cogniss story far and wide, and significantly growing our customer base, while also continuing to support our existing clients.
"Plus we've had such strong interest from a range of VC firms and other strategic investors that we're now planning to run a fast follow-on investment round early in the new year to capitalise on the momentum.
The Cogniss platform is a cloud-based platform that incorporates UX design, behavioural science, artificial intelligence and technical app building skills. Users don't need to have any coding or technical expertise.
According to the company, apps built on Cogniss typically cost up to 90% less than custom-built apps, and can be launched in weeks rather than the months or even years custom app development can take.
Young says, "In 2020 there were over 80,000 new apps published in the app store that were transformational in nature, helping to transform lives in terms of lifestyle, health, fitness, wellbeing and education.
"The most effective apps in these categories are what we call Human Transformation apps, which use evidence-based neuropsychology and neuroscience principles to positively impact human cognition, health and wellbeing.
"What we're aiming to do with Cogniss is democratise the development of these Human Transformation apps, making the process more affordable and achievable for individuals and organisations who want to help people make positive changes to their lives.
Cogniss will now stake a claim on the multi-billion dollar global transformational app development industry, which spans the no-code development market, projected to be valued at US$45 billion by 2025, Digital Health, projected to reach US$457 billion by 2026, and EdTech, projected to reach US$404 billion by 2025.
Young says, "What's been especially rewarding to see from the crowdfunding campaign is the different types of people and organisations that have come on board.
"We've had investments from an incredibly diverse range of individuals. One investor plans to create an app to support survivors of domestic abuse, another is designing an app that combines speech therapy and mindfulness, and another has an idea for an app to engage students in Humanities class discussions.
"It's been really inspiring to hear all of these innovative ideas, and to know that Cogniss can provide the opportunity to bring their ideas to life.
"Thousands of people have already had their lives changed for the better by a Human Transformation app built on Cogniss, a fact we're very proud of. Now, with this new funding behind us, we have the opportunity to positively impact millions of lives."
Concurrent to the CSF campaign, Cogniss has signed a number of strategic commercial partnerships in the past few weeks with global organisations that will act as Cogniss resellers in global markets outside of the organisation's 2022 Go-To-Market strategy, including international communications network M-C Saatchi, strategic design consultancy ThinkPlace, nutraceutical consulting service Metavate, and pharmaceutical innovation consultancy Rhythm Design.
