Adviser social network preps capital raise under new chairman
Adviser community platform Ensombl, formerly XY Adviser, is working up a $3 million series A funding round, marking its largest capital raise to date, Street Talk can reveal.
Ensombl managing director Clayton Daniel.
The company, which operates a social media platform for about 8000 financial planners, has also brought on a new chairman to lead it through its expansion phase, appointing ex-Ignition Advice chief executive Craig Keary as a non-executive chair last month.
First on the agenda is expanding the business offshore, with plans to put staff on the ground in South Africa. Ensombl also wants to grow its publishing footprint, with a focus on content production and training services.
To date, Ensombl has been funded via a crowdfunding campaign in 2020, picking up $400,000 from 226 investors, and a handful of smaller raises. Shareholders are predominantly individuals, namely its four founders – Clayton Daniel, Ben Nash, Ray Jaramis and Adrian Patty – staff and planners in the financial services industry.
Management is hoping to draw new onshore and offshore investors to its funding round, noting the “billions in offshore capital waiting to come into Australia with the right opportunity”.
It comes amid a flurry of activity in the sector as offshore investors turn to Australia for opportunities. In June,equity firm TA Associates lobbed a takeover offer for accounting and financial advice firm AZ NGA, putting just under $600 million on the table.
Elsewhere, UK-based provider of cloud-based SaaS wealth management technology GBST nabbed Australian financial planning software provider Advice Intelligence late last month after it fell into voluntary administration,
Keary told Street Talk he wants to emulate the success of
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