The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Bahamas-based crowdfunding platform yesterday disclosed it is opening an office in California’s Silicon Valley as “a bridge” to connect this nation with international start-ups, investors and advisers.

D’Arcy Rahming Jr, ArawakX’s chief technology officer, told Tribune Business that the overseas office - which is in the process of being set-up and all paperwork completed - will introduce the platform as well as the Bahamas and Caribbean to potential US-based investors.

“It connects us in The Bahamas to Silicon Valley proper,” he explained. “We’re really excited for it for multiple reasons, the companies and the investors, but also advisers. They have a certain way of doing business there that’s unique to Silicon Valley. It’s what makes it special. 

“Imagine an ex-Google executive mentoring a start-up in The Bahamas. It allows business people to create and expand their networks. It’s [the office] a true bridge. Business at that level just has to be learned. It’s not a secret sauce they use in Silicon Valley, although it kind of is, and once you’re exposed to it you’re changed by it. We’re trying to make sure from all levels, all parts of it, we get exposed to these things.”

ArawakX last month launched its crowdfunding platform by offering local start-ups, Bahama Myfi and Red Lobster, Pinnacle Brands Ltd, to investors. Its Silicon Valley office will be headed by chief of international operations, Doug Kryzan, who started at Hewlett Packard and is the founder and chief executive of CloudPro, a worldwide cloud solutions provider and professional services company.

Mr Rahming said ArawakX has two more Bahamian start-ups that are “very close” to being ready for offering to investors, although he declined to name them or state which industries and products they are involved in. And he added that three US-based entities are currently “working their way through the application process”.

The just-launched crowdfunding platform also gave no indications of slowing down, with plans to open an office in Miami “in a month or so” as well as expand throughout the Caribbean region in the near future.

“There’s a lot of interest in The Bahamas,” Mr Rahming said. “Our brand is good, people are really impressed with how peaceful our elections were, and we have a lot of good things going for us. We have to keep the faith and remember people want to be in The Bahamas and do business. We’ve had entrepreneurs in several different countries reach out to us.”

As for plans to move into the Caribbean, he added: “Obviously we have to figure out a little bit of detail because those jurisdictions are a lot different to us, but we definitely see ourselves moving through the Caribbean because we have the experience in technology and the connections that larger countries don’t necessarily have today,.

“Miami is a natural gateway for is as Caribbean folks. All of us love spending time there, but it’s also important to open our facility to the whole world and Miami is a natural place for it.” Mr Rahming added that ArawakX was “doing really well”, and said: “If I might admit this to you, we actually blew out some of our systems on the back end.

“After we did the launch, 3,000 people signed up and put us in a backlog. Right now we have 5,000 people come into the system. We have growing pains. It’s new and innovative, the team is mostly young Bahamians who have never seen this before. It’s a bit of a learning curve, but the demand is very much here for people to own things.”

Explaining further the Silicon Valley expansion, Mr Rahming said: “We are delighted to expand into the US market as we develop our investor and issuer ecosystem. Silicon Valley is recognised as a worldwide centre for innovation and raising capital.

“Just 6 percent of start-ups are funded in the US market. ArawakX believes there are many innovative, high-growth start-ups that are missed by the venture capital community. Nearshore investing in The Bahamas will fill help find the capital these companies need to accelerate growth and fill this important funding gap.

“We wanted to launch first with Bahamian companies to show that we could participate both as business owners and investors. But the demand from international companies to nearshore in the Bahamas is increasing. We intend to turn The Bahamas into a world-renowned financial centre where start-ups can raise early-stage funding.”

Turning to Mr Kryzan’s appointment, Mr Rahming added: “Doug Kryzan brings a lot of experience to ArawakX. He is a multi-disciplined executive with experience across technology, marketing, sales and administration.

“Doug has been instrumental in integrating our technology platform and positioning the brand of ArawakX internationally. Later plans for expansion include expansion into the Caribbean and we shall shortly be opening a Miami office.” ArawakX is regulated by the Securities Commission of the Bahamas.