[INVESDOR] Bittiraha.fi - Bitcoin services since 2012

[Technomage]

I represent Bittiraha.fi which is the leading Bitcoin service provider in the Finnish market. We are running an open funding round at Invesdor which is a Nordic crowdfunding platform.

We have a short pitch video which is a good start: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFT-lwX410Q

The detailed pitch can be seen by registering to Invesdor website: https://www.invesdor.com/finland/en/pitches/427?token=f30988c60e9a202e6398a5e9f14c6d76. Registration does not cost anything nor does it have any obligations.

Basic facts of the funding round

- We are looking for a funding of at least 150 000 € and at most 500 000 €.
- Valuation is set at 2 750 000 € pre-funding.

Investment Proposal Summary

• Company
◦ Pioneer Bitcoin company from Finland, in operation since 2012
◦ Core development team working with bitcoin since 2011
◦ Strong growth from 2012 to 2015
◦ Processed EUR 20 million in transactions to date
◦ Current monthly transaction volume approximately EUR 1 million
◦ 20 000 unique customers, over 65 000 processed orders
◦ Long term partnerships with some of the largest companies in bitcoin
ecosystem
◦ Pipeline of high value business lines and innovations to support future
growth

• Market globally
◦ PE investments by the end of 2014 USD 433 million
◦ Largest PE investments to bitcoin companies have been USD 20-30
million
◦ 361 ATM in operation, 750 forecasted by the end of 2015
◦ Over 80 000 merchants accepting bitcoin
◦ Finland has a clear regulatory environment on bitcoin

• Business lines
◦ Bitcoin brokerage – largest volume in Finland
◦ Bitcoin ATMs – largest ATM network in the Nordics
◦ Bill payment gateway – largest volume in Finland
◦ Bitcoin salary gateway and integration to HR software
◦ Online store for security products

• New business pipeline
◦ Remittance
◦ Physical Bitcoins
◦ Offline transaction processing
◦ Secure storage / offline vault
◦ Bitcoin ETF

• Investments
◦ Can be done in EUR (through Invesdor) or in bitcoin (directly)
◦ Minimum investment through Invesdor is 335 EUR (20 shares)
◦ Direct option (bitcoin) only for large investments (over 10k EUR)

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[alani123]

I saw a video about Bittiraha on the front page of /r/bitcoin the other day. While I'm in no place to doubt their claims of being a legitimate company since year 2012, I can't help but ask why a company working for that long would ask for 150.000 - 500.000 € in crowdfunding out of the blue.

The questions this move sparks are many actually.

Why crowdfunding instead of private funding? Where are more details about this? What are those shares?

[Technomage]

I saw a video about Bittiraha on the front page of /r/bitcoin the other day. While I'm in no place to doubt their claims of being a legitimate company since year 2012, I can't help but ask why a company working for that long would ask for 150.000 - 500.000 € in crowdfunding out of the blue.

We've had solid funding from our income almost from day 1. We had a smaller funding round (105 000 €) a year ago to boost our operations and we actually received most of the funding in bitcoins directly.

However we don't have enough income to pursue growth in the way we'd like. We have an excellent team but most of our developers are half-time because we can't afford to have them full-time. With the funding we can actually pursue the projects that could allow us to compete in the bigger arenas.

Why crowdfunding instead of private funding? Where are more details about this? What are those shares?

Our first funding round in early 2014 was a private funding round. This time we decided crowdfunding is the best way to go, for 2 reasons. First, we have a large network of customers and users. Over 20 000 Finnish people have used our exchange services and our website is also the #1 news, blogs & forum portal for the Finnish Bitcoin community.

In addition we believe that the crowdfunding round itself can give us even more visibility, not only in Finland but elsewhere as well. Some of our upcoming products are fully international which means we want to get more visibility outside of Finland.

[Technomage]

The detailed pitch can be seen by registering to Invesdor website: https://www.invesdor.com/finland/en/pitches/427?token=f30988c60e9a202e6398a5e9f14c6d76. Registration does not cost anything nor does it have any obligations.

[worhiper_-_]

The detailed pitch can be seen by registering to Invesdor website: https://www.invesdor.com/finland/en/pitches/427?token=f30988c60e9a202e6398a5e9f14c6d76. Registration does not cost anything nor does it have any obligations.

It's kind of weird how the info is not visible at first sight. Thanks for the update though, seems clearer now. It's not that onbvious that all this information would be available upon registering.

[Technomage]

It's kind of weird how the info is not visible at first sight. Thanks for the update though, seems clearer now. It's not that onbvious that all this information would be available upon registering.

You're right. It may be that the way Invesdor has chosen to do this is not optimal. We will try to be clear about this in our marketing so that everyone knows there is much more to be seen inside.

[elianite]

How many bitcoin ATM's do you have in Finland? Can you tell more about their statistics and what your plans are for the next 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years?

[gogxmagog]

If you are trying to raise capital here it means you are no better than every other offering that has ever gone before in bitcointalk/securities, i.e. Doomed.

[Technomage]

How many bitcoin ATM's do you have in Finland? Can you tell more about their statistics and what your plans are for the next 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years?

We have 8 active locations in Finland. The volume has been growing surprisingly well recently. We believe one reason is that there has been a lot of talk locally about how local Bitcoin companies have to give information to authorities. Tax people, customs, other authorities. However our ATM's run with pretty much no verifications or checks (unless the amounts are really high, over 15k€). It's more anonymous than doing bank transfer based trading. This could be why especially recently we've seen an ATM trading volume increase.

Our most recent and best location is our first 2-way ATM and we have been positively surprised by the selling volume. Lots of people want to sell their bitcoins and get cash. Cash is, once again, more anonymous.

Our strategy is to first of all make sure all of our ATM's are in excellent locations. Malls, seaports, airports. And we want to upgrade all of the good locations to 2-way. Then we will expand based on the demand. If there is demand, we invest more in the ATM's. This is a gradual process.

In terms of our ATM business we are not currently thinking about international markets. We still have work to do in this area in Finland alone. We have other services that we are planning to push internationally. The ATM network is relatively light on our resources to operate over here but doing this kind of business abroad would require a lot of resources.

[Technomage]

If you are trying to raise capital here it means you are no better than every other offering that has ever gone before in bitcointalk/securities, i.e. Doomed.

I can assure you that Bitcointalk is not our number #1 channel for raising capital. However I don't see why I shouldn't. Any channel is a plus.

[Technomage]

Status: 18 500 € raised during the first 4 days. Tomorrow the offering will go public on Invesdor website. It has been in "hidden mode" so far.

[elianite]

this is a bit of a basic question, but if shares are bought and you are successful, how and where can we cash out the shares (is there a market to trade them)? Or, is the idea that dividends will be given out according to profits?

[Technomage]

this is a bit of a basic question, but if shares are bought and you are successful, how and where can we cash out the shares (is there a market to trade them)? Or, is the idea that dividends will be given out according to profits?

Currently we give out yearly dividends payed out in bitcoin. We're looking at giving out quarterly dividends. As far as trading the shares, I have good news regarding that as well. We are going to list our company on Privanet (http://www.privanet.fi/en/quotations) which is a place where shares of companies like ours can be easily traded.

[anshar]

Bump for this great website. The Finnish market isn't small, and I'm sure this could do well.

Good luck!

[Technomage]

Update.

Today Invesdor made our offering public on their website: https://www.invesdor.com/finland/en

Also we have now raised over 20 000 €.

[Technomage]

Funding round day #6. We have raised over 30 000 € which means we have over 20% of our minimum target!

[Minerjoe]

Funding round day #6. We have raised over 30 000 € which means we have over 20% of our minimum target!

What do you consider as major threats to your business? How sustainable it is?

[Technomage]

What do you consider as major threats to your business? How sustainable it is?

There are threats on multiple levels. The largest ones that stand out are regulation and competition. The regulatory environment in Finland is especially good for Bitcoin companies which means that I'm not too worried about this threat at the moment. In fact it's something we have an advantage in. Things may change of course, but at the moment it is looking good.

Clearly the number #1 threat is competition. Major international Bitcoin companies are the biggest threat and there is local competition as well.

The most important thing to understand is that we are not a 1 trick pony. We are constantly coming up with new business lines and we try to stay one step ahead of the situation in regards to competition.

We also believe in the power of co-operation. We've worked together closely with companies such as BitPay, Bitstamp and Lamassu. We want to make strategic partnerships with Bitcoin companies when we feel it's beneficial.

[Technomage]

Funding round week update #1. Our offer has been public for 1 week. We've had a strong start, here are the numbers:

- We have raised over 35 000 €
- We have reached 23% of our minimum target
- Over 30 new investors are part of the round
- Our presentation video has over 2 000 views

The funding round is still on for the next 55 days. We still have ways to go before we reach our target but with your help we can do it. Every small investment helps us reach our goal.

[Minerjoe]

What do you consider as major threats to your business? How sustainable it is?

There are threats on multiple levels. The largest ones that stand out are regulation and competition. The regulatory environment in Finland is especially good for Bitcoin companies which means that I'm not too worried about this threat at the moment. In fact it's something we have an advantage in. Things may change of course, but at the moment it is looking good.

Clearly the number #1 threat is competition. Major international Bitcoin companies are the biggest threat and there is local competition as well.

The most important thing to understand is that we are not a 1 trick pony. We are constantly coming up with new business lines and we try to stay one step ahead of the situation in regards to competition.

We also believe in the power of co-operation. We've worked together closely with companies such as BitPay, Bitstamp and Lamassu. We want to make strategic partnerships with Bitcoin companies when we feel it's beneficial.

This sounds honest and realistic. I ll see if I can get in, at least a bit.