PhycoLife
Equity Crowdfunding Case Study
July 2025, $1.88m raised
In July 2025, PhycoLife closed its third and largest equity crowdfunding round.
As a first-time OnMarket participant, founder Pia Winberg welcomed 810 investors from across Australia, many of whom were loyal customers and supporters.
Raising $1.88 million, this round not only provided capital but also strengthened PhycoLife’s community of advocates, enabling the team to fund its expansion into the $7.5 billion chondroitin sulfate supplement market.
About PhycoLife
PhycoLife, founded by Pia Winberg, develops innovative seaweed-based products with health, environmental, and nutritional benefits.
Backed by clinical research and a loyal customer base, the company is entering a growth phase, expanding its product range and market reach.
Using equity crowdfunding to support development, PhycoLife aims to scale responsibly, combining scientific rigor, sustainability, and community engagement to drive both commercial success and positive social impact.
Pia Winberg, Founder and CEO, is a marine systems ecologist with a Master’s in Marine Science from Stockholm University.
Based in Huskisson, NSW, she leads the passion for sustainable cultivation of seaweed and the development of products that deliver strong social, environmental, and economic success.
“I felt the experience with OnMarket was fantastic because OnMarket also had all their ducks in a row. The online digital interface's simplicity was there. I love the equity crowdfunding platforms we have been on before, but I feel like we elevated to a new scale."
- Pia Winberg, Founder & CEO
About the Raise
PhycoLife successfully raised $1.88 million from 810 investors, demonstrating strong market interest and community support.
Strategic PR and digital marketing enabled the company to build a reliable investor base comprised of its customers, clients and community.
The funds raised will be directed toward entering the $7.5 billion chondroitin sulphate market, positioning PhycoLife for significant growth and expansion into the future.
Investors
Pre-Money Evaluation
OnMarket has exposure to a larger investment network, but also is experienced with companies that are going from equity crowdfunding to secondary raises and IPOs.”
- Pia Winberg
Why Did PhycoLife Choose To Raise Funds via Equity Crowdfunding?
Support Growth
Pia and her team chose equity crowdfunding through OnMarket as a strategic way to support growth. While it was the company’s first raise on OnMarket, previous experience with other platforms gave Pia insight into engaging a broader investor base. Changes over the past several years have expanded opportunities for shareholder participation, and Pia recognised that equity crowdfunding could leverage PhycoLife’s reputation for innovation, its supportive customer base, and its foundation in clinical research.
For Pia, equity crowdfunding offered more than capital; it enabled customers and supporters to become investors, strengthening both financial growth and community engagement, something other forms of capital raising would be unable to do.
Now with its most successful raise closed and completed, PhycoLife views Crowd-Sourced Funding as the most effective way to fund expansion while deepening its market presence and fostering long-term support.
Brand Ambassadors
Powerful tool
Social Media Posts During The Campaign
Insight from Pia Winberg, Founder & CEO
What motivated you to use equity crowdfunding?
“We knew we had a strong direct customer communication channel, and our customers were very supportive. We also had a very strong base of people from our clinical studies. We just had a very good connection to the public and people that liked the innovation of what we were doing.”
Why equity crowdfunding over venture capital?
“The venture capital market has a tradition that we didn’t fit into because we are quite innovative, and you’ve got to understand the technology we are in, as we are a little bit ahead of the curve. Our customers and the people we’ve touched along the journey of our research, they see where we’re going and what we’ve got. It was a great way to unleash that power that we had of a network of people wanting this to happen.”
Have you seen any tangible benefits beyond capital?
"Yes, because we are already strong in ecommerce, the event of the equity sourced funding raise coincided with a lot of ecommerce investments we’d made. I wouldn’t say there was one single factor, but they all hit a sweet spot during the crowd raise. Our sales are now accelerating phenomenally."
Where did the investors come from?
"It was very exciting that some of our existing shareholders came back
and took up new shares. I was very humbled about that. We also reached many new people and our marketing in the crowd equity space is different to our ecommerce marketing, as we are not selling the product, we are selling the purpose of our company. That also diversified the investor base. We’ve just got such a diversity, many different levels of investment from $500-$100,000."
Would you recommend equity crowdfunding?
"I highly recommend it. Equity-sourced funding has been around for seven or so years, and we started just before that. If I had access to crowdsourced funding from the beginning, I would have done that, but it didn’t exist when we were there.”
To enquire about raising funds via equity crowdfunding, click here.