- Loan Successfully Funded On 16 Sep 2022 and Fully Repaid
émotions further growth, more impact
émotions
- Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Menu
- 50,000 AUD
Loan has been fully repaid
The loan will be used for expansion of the business for digital marketing, brand awareness, PR, and crowdfunding for the next phase of growth. Our business is no longer a concept but a scalable operation. The story for émotions is powerful and well received. The main reason émotions exists is to make an impact in the mental health space yet we are a values-driven business with a triple bottom line 1) Mental Health 2) Sustainability and 3) Australian Manufacturing with an inclusive workforce.
- 5 Lenders
Committed
- 24 months
Loan Period
- 10%
Interest Rate
- BACKGROUND
Loan summary
Our vision is a world free of the consequences of mental issues.
Our mission is to redirect spending on everyday products, and donate 50% of the profit to three key mental health organisations – Beyond Blue, Lifeline & The Black Dog Institute – who support everyday prevalent mental health issues.
This is the second LendForGood impact crowd loan raise for emotions, building upon recent growth catalysed by the first LendForGood impact crowd loan raised in June 2022. The first loan catalysed expanded operations, and since June, we have commenced manufacturing four products in Melbourne, furthered our goal of creating an inclusive workforce by employing a person living with a disability, and made our first donations to our three partner charities Beyond Blue, Lifeline and The Black Dog Institute.
Off the back of these activities, further opportunities for growth have quickly emerged. Sales continue to expand rapidly. Large supermarkets have approached émotions to access its supply. And we’ve commenced work on a crowdfunded equity raise strategy. To support these opportunities, we are building up more inventory and preparing to invest in a broad reaching PR campaign to support the crowdfunded equity raise and our market growth generally. This second loan will provide the additional working capital we need to realise these steps.
The investment in our growth will help us reach more people faster. When you join émotions, you show support for your neighbour, your friend, your family member or members of our Australian community who might be quietly managing their mental health.
Borrower's mission
Our impact to date has been centred around four foundational pillars:
1. We have partnered with Beyond Blue, Lifeline and The Black Dog Institute, all chosen for their widest impact from preventative research to supporting people when most vulnerable.
2. Our product packaging puts a simple yet powerful tool in the line of sight. A nod towards emotions, mental health, and being human, and discretely communicates the names of mental health support organisations available to people when in need.
3. Part of looking after ourselves is looking after our planet. That is why all of our products are eco-friendly and sustainably sourced.
We are moving towards local manufacturing to reduce our carbon footprint and much of the materials are locally sourced.
4. Inclusive Employment:
Disability impact: Partnered with another organisation in a shared warehouse and staff arrangement. In July we brought on our first member of staff with a disability responsible for packaging and Quality Control of Melbourne Made Products. We are an inclusive environment that supports neurodiversity and physical diversity.
We are a female-led organisation and know firsthand the benefits of creating opportunities for priority groups.
Whilst I touched on a number of values-driven decisions we make around operations, I always like to bring it back to émotions exists to support Mental Health. The more the business grows, the more impact we can have and the more profits can be donated to our three partner charities.
The activities funded by this loan are helping to achieve the above Sustainable Development Goals as defined by the UN.
Intermediary's experience with impact enterprises
For more than 8 years, Red Hat Impact has helped impact enterprises by raising capital and providing other kinds of business and strategy support. We have raised more than $3M from our network of impact investors, and loaned this capital to support 30 enterprises. We use a crowd-lending model to raise loan capital. As of May 2024, we maintain a 98% success rate on loan repayment. We establish close working relationships with all of the impact enterprises we raise debt capital for, and co-manage risks with them during the loan term.
- IMPACT
Impacts and how they are measured
émotions exists to create positive social change for emotional wellbeing and for the planet. Together as a society and globally, the sale of these products can fund research and support Mental Health by redirecting spending on these everyday products that we are all buying anyway, in order to save precious lives lost every day. As a business, we have connected with others who share our values of bringing awareness to mental health, supporting our environment, and supporting an inclusive workforce. Mental Health Impact: On a holistic level, the long-term outcomes can be viewed as improved quality of life and improved health. The foremost message we receive from our members is they love supporting mental health whilst receiving high-quality eco-friendly products. The presence of the products in their homes and workplaces increases their ability to openly discuss their feelings (reduces stigma), reduces stress, and increases awareness. On a quantitative level, we measure the impact of the dollar amount donated to our charities. Over time, we can further delve into the impact that comes from funding much-needed research into prevention and supportive mental health services. Environmental Impact: In addition to the social impact from donations, our environmental impact can be quantified by the number of environmentally friendly products sold that could have otherwise been sourced from supply chains that encourage unethical practices. Employment Impact: As we scale our manufacturing here in Melbourne, our priority is to expand our workforce to include more people in priority groups with barriers to entry into the workforce.
Ready to lend?
This loan is not currently accepting subscriptions, but we invite you to check out some of the other live loans on the platform. In order to participate in loans you must be a registered lender on the LendForGood platform. If this is your first time lending with us we’ll guide you through the process to first get registered. Thank you for lending your passion!