It was mid-summer 2010, Faction Skis had a dilemma.  Every summer since inception, the company made enough skis to meet orders made in the spring and every season those volumes doubled.  However, every winter, demand from re-orders and new regions outstripped inventory, meaning they missed out on sales opportunities.

Co-founders Tony McWilliam and Alex Hoye knew that despite the recession, due to the immense demand for the technology, design and quality of their stock, Faction was destined to miss out on sales again this season due to insufficient inventory if they did not produce more stock
Faction was entering its fifth season, but Swiss banks were still working themselves out of their leveraged situations and support for their small, but high-growth, internationally-focused firm was not high on the institutions’ priority list. 

A turning point occurred when the team heard about an innovative start-up of its own right, CoFundit. McWilliam and Hoye naturally liked the idea of a grassroots investment base – Faction was founded on principles of quality products skis at accessible prices.  However, they believed the wave of ‘crowd Funding’ they had heard about would only generate small amounts of capital.  Knowing that this season would be important for them to break into US and European markets and recognising that all start-ups need a break, they decided to give it a chance.

“We feel that we offered an excellent investment opportunity – a secured working capital loan at a strong interest rate – but were stunned to raise over CHF 170,000 on Cofundit within four weeks.” Explained Chairman and co-founder Hoye, who is an experienced angel investor.  “We complemented the fund raise with our own sources, but could not have produced sufficient inventory without CoFundit.”

“Cofundit offers a unique form of fund-raising for Small and Medium Entreprises which do not fit traditional start-up or angel investment criteria, but offer great returns” confirmed Hervé Flutto, Cofundit Co-Founder. Faction is a unique brand in terms of investment, with a number of internet entrepreneurs and investors involved including the likes of angels and executives from Facebook and Betfair, but is in that ‘in-between’ phase between friends and family and large institutional investment.

Investors and management are thrilled with the simple, but effective marketplace that CoFundit delivered – and in very short order.  As a result, skis are now shipping into 13 countries around the world and the company has locked in another record year.

“Faction will be seeking an equity round in November and based on our experience with the inventory financing, CoFundit will be a go-to source for investors.” CEO McWilliam confirmed.

About Faction Skis
Faction Skis aims to build the best high performance skis, without compromise. Its focus is on providing versatile, progressive products that answer the ski and lifestyle needs of freestyle and freeride skiers - designed by addicts, for addicts. Faction Skis. Faction Skis is Headquartered in Verbier, Switzerland. More information is available at: www.factionskis.com 

Contact: Alex Hoye, alex@factionskis.com

About Cofundit
Cofundit.com is a new online social network where businesses can finance their growth, experts can showcase their expertise and individuals can optimize their investments. Cofundit leverages the Power of the Crowd to screen attractive funding requests and facilitate the financing of Small and Medium Enterprises in Switzerland. Cofundit is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. More information is available at: www.cofundit.com

Contact: Hervé Flutto, herve.flutto@cofundit.com