Sydney-based tech start-up Tapestry, which has created a social media platform suitable for older people, has snagged $600,000 in a funding round led by Sydney Angels, having already won two grants from Commercialisation Australia and a national iAward.<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tapestry was founded in 2010 by Andrew Dowling who, after travelling to China to complete a Master\u2019s degree, created a simple social media platform for older people.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dowling says that he realised that China, like so many other countries, faces the challenge of an ageing population, along with surging popularity for social media.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As a result, Tapestry is building a platform that brings social media together into one, easy-to-use interface, enabling elderly people to stay connected to their families.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This means they don\u2019t have to manage multiple accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The platform was designed in close consultation with senior users, with the goal of creating a product that is easy to use by anyone, regardless of how familiar they are with technology.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tapestry has now secured $600,000 in seed funding in a round led by the Sydney Angels group of investors. Other investors include David Greatorex, Su-Ming Wong and Brand Hoff.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Neil Bourne, of Nextec Strategic Capital, is also an investor and has joined the Tapestry board.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n According to Dowling, Tapestry is \u201cthrilled\u201d to have won the trust and confidence of these investors.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very exciting to know we have the initial capital now to make our vision a reality,\u201d Dowling says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThe intention of the capital-raising is to demonstrate the product has legs here in Australia before looking at where we go next internationally.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOur goal now is to build the first commercially viable version of the product, prove out the business model and validate the opportunity\u2026 for us to seek next-stage growth capital.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While the Tapestry platform was initially inspired by the generation gap in China, Dowling says most of the interest is coming from English-speaking markets.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As a result, the company will first expand into markets such as North America and the United Kingdom, he says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the first funding Tapestry has received \u2013 it has also won a Commercialisation Australia Skills and Knowledge grant, and a Commercialisation Australia Experienced Executive grant.<\/p>\n The first of these two grants was used to fund IP protection and market research. But the second is yet to be utilised.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWe actually haven\u2019t tapped into that grant. We\u2019re yet to find an experienced executive who is suited to rolling up their sleeves and getting their hands dirty,\u201d Dowling says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tapestry also received a 2012 national iAward for innovation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n According to Bourne, Tapestry has a \u201creal shot\u201d at changing how families interact across generations.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re very excited about what Tapestry is creating,\u201d Bourne said in a statement.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt has the potential to not only improve the quality of life for many seniors, but challenge the way the aged care industry delivers its services.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAt a time when the aged care industry is coming under increasing pressure owing to Australia\u2019s ageing population, great start-up ideas like Tapestry are invaluable to families and society alike.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sydney-based tech start-up Tapestry, which has created a social media platform suitable for older people, has snagged $600,000 in a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43415"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43415\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}