Environmentally-friendly firelighter company Firebuilder is looking to raise €200,000 in equity investment via a crowdfunding campaign.

The Ashford company manufactures its eco-friendly alternative to traditional kerosene-based firelighters from recycled compressed cardboard. According to Firebuilder, its firelighter has been independently tested by various bodies and companies, including Bord na Mona, and is proven to perform better than kerosene-based firelighters.

It says that Firebuilder starts fires faster than its traditional rivals, reaching 1kw of heat in 27 minutes rather than the 42 minutes taken by competing products.

The company is using equity crowdfunding platform Spark Crowdfunding to solicit the funds. Firesbuilder is EII-approved, which means investors can avail of an income tax benefit at their marginal rate.

Chief executive Emmett Hedigan said: “With extra funding, Firebuilder can gain a strong foothold in the firestarter market, both in Ireland and abroad. We are confident that we will secure full funding because Firebuilder is proven to be more effective than its rivals and is not harmful to the environment.

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“To date, the majority of our sales have been through our retail network and we know from speaking to customers that repeat orders are very high.  We now plan to aggressively go after the online market to complement our proven in-store sales model.  No product development investment is required and all funds raised will be used to grow sales.”

Firebuilder operating company Inferneco Ltd had run up startup development losses of €354,000 at the end of 2017. Total liabilities amounted to €264,000 at year-end, including €73,000 owed to the directors.  Net worth was a negative €103,000.

The Spark Crowdfunding platform has raised c.€1.4m in equity for five companies since inception, including €384,000 for the person-to-person car-sharing app, Fleet, and €250,000 for the campsite booking portal Campsited.  

Spark Crowdfunding chief executive Chris Burge commented: “We apply quite a robust criteria to companies that seek funding through the Spark Crowdfunding platform. While the degree of risk is always higher for an early stage company, the returns are also potentially very significant. Anyone backing Firebuilder should understand this in the context of the company’s success and achievements so far.”

Details of the Firebuilder campaign are available here.