Aina Curated, the full service architectural design agency, has successfully raised $8,500 through the Bermuda Investor Community, the island’s first fully digital angel investment platform that brings local investment opportunities to qualified individual investors.

The capital raise is the first successfully closed transaction on the platform, which launched in June.

It takes the form of a 21-month fixed term loan with an interest rate of four per cent.

Akilah Swan, the owner and founder of Aina Curated, said the money will be used to cover the costs of incorporation.

She said: “I am thrilled to have been able to complete my first ever capital raise with the support of the Bermuda Investor Community. Their network of angel investors is a crucial addition to the Bermuda finance market, especially for growth businesses like my own.”

Ms Swan added: “The team at the Bermuda Investor Community has been so supportive of me through the capital raising process, providing guidance on which financing options are available, what information to prepare and ultimately bringing my business to the attention of my new investors.

“I definitely plan on bringing future funding rounds to market through the Bermuda Investor Community platform.”

Caroline McGill, executive chairwoman of the Bermuda Investor Community, said: “We are so excited for Akilah and very proud to have played a part in helping her to reach this milestone in the growth of her business.

“We look forward to supporting her through future raises, and watching her achieve her business ambitions. We are confident that she will be the first of many entrepreneurs to find local investors as awareness of our platform grows.

“We already have a strong pipeline of opportunities in development across a range of deal sizes and sectors.

“We hope to see many more investors contact us for more information at enquiries@investorcommunity.bm or register on our platform to make the most of the opportunities which we are bringing forward.”

The Bermuda Investor Community is a social enterprise, which charges nothing to investors and recycles all of its profits into the Ignite entrepreneurial accelerator programme – which is operated under a common charitable trust parent entity – with the aim of creating a self-sustaining ecosystem for all entrepreneurial businesses in Bermuda.

The platform is open to qualified investors and all businesses which are contributing to the growth of the Bermuda economy, and not just those which are graduates of Ignite.

www.investorcommunity.bm