Rubber Monkey

Rubber Monkey is New Zealand's premier e-commerce platform for creatives. Having achieved $90m+ revenue since its inception Rubber Monkey now has its sights set on capturing the large Australian market.
$1,756,541
Funded
Raise target: $1,500,000 (6.98% equity) Raise cap: $2,500,000 (11.11% equity)
  • Overview
  • Product
  • Strategy
  • Financial
  • Offer
  • Updates
  • Q&A
$1,756,541 Funded
$1,500,000 Raise target (6.98% equity)
$2,500,000 Raise cap (11.11% equity)

Investor Webinar

Rubber Monkey recently hosted an investor webinar in which Laurence Alexander (founder and CEO) gave a brief overview of the business and answered investor questions. Watch a recording of the webinar below.

Investment Highlights

  • Rubber Monkey is New Zealand’s leading e-commerce platform specifically designed and operated for creatives, combining the largest range of creative technologies with a world class consumer experience.
  • A proven history of profitable growth, generating $20.4 million of revenue and $1 million of EBITDA in FY22.
  • A clear demand for Rubber Monkey’s specialist offering in Australia, with $2.5 million of revenue generated in Australia in FY22 from minimal presence, marketing and product range.
  • A proprietary platform and inventory management system, enabling scaled growth and continuous margin improvement.
  • A strong management team and board, with significant industry and management expertise and a track record of profitable growth.
  • A clear and simple strategy to grow revenue to $95 million and EBITDA to $19.6 million in FY27, targeting medium term exit strategy.

Executive Summary

Rubber Monkey is New Zealand’s leading e-commerce platform specifically designed and operated for creatives, combining the largest range of creative technologies with a world class consumer experience.

In 2007 Laurence Alexander, together with experienced e-commerce executive Nigel Stanford, identified a gap in the growing film and audio market for a specialist online retailer. After extensive development of the proprietary e-commerce platform, with assistance from ex-TradeMe web developer Philip Cox, Rubber Monkey was launched in 2010.

Rubber Monkey is now the leading e-commerce platform for creatives, delivering a world class consumer experience and generating $20.4 million of revenue and $1 million of EBITDA in FY22. It has more than 94,000 video, computer, audio and photography products listed on its site, with products sourced from local distributors and manufacturers around the world. We have branches in Auckland, Wellington and Sydney, including our 16,000 sq ft purpose built warehouse facility in Wellington.

The e-commerce platform is built entirely on proprietary technology which manages everything from product ordering, warehousing and inventory management to sales and order shipping. As well as creating a great customer experience, the platform enables the business to be agile and continuously optimise internal processes from purchasing and warehouse, to accounts and after sales care. The results are real and the benefits provide Rubber Monkey with its competitive edge.

Rubber Monkey generated $2.5 million of revenue in FY22 through its Australian website. The success in Australia has been achieved with minimal presence, marketing and product range. With premises secured in Sydney, supplier agreements in the process of being signed and staff being recruited, Rubber Monkey is positioning itself to capture the much more significant market opportunity in Australia.

Rubber Monkey has a fairly simple growth strategy consisting of expanding its presence in Australia, increasing its product range and increasing investment in marketing and sales. It has built an exceptional and loyal team who are ready to execute on the growth strategy.

Rubber Monkey is now seeking to raise up to $2.5 million of capital to support its growth strategy, with funds to be used to invest in additional inventory, fitting out its Australian premises and as working capital.


Board and Key Management

Photo of LAURENCE ALEXANDER

LAURENCE ALEXANDER CEO, Director and Co-founder

With a career starting in music retail, he progressed to professional audio product sales and account management for distributors (Major Music Wholesale and Australian Audio Supplies) subsequently working as a freelance consultant before becoming a full time music producer in Sydney, Australia. Producing, remixing, or writing for acts including Guy Sebastian, Sophie Monk, Kate D’Aruago and Westlife, Laurence has an Australian platinum certified hit (Planets) performed by ShortStack. Returning to New Zealand in 2007 he started working in Film and produced the award winning documentary feature Beautiful Machine in 2010. That same year he co founded Rubber Monkey Sales with long-term friend Nigel Stanford. Laurence lives in Wellington with his partner Lindsay and office dog Wyatt!
Photo of NIGEL STANFORD

NIGEL STANFORD Director and Co-founder

Nigel has been a standing member on the board of numerous companies he co-founded including Trademe, FindSomeone, StarNow, FilmConvert, Rubber Monkey. He was instrumental in the early success of TradeMe, serving as CEO from 2002 to 2004. He is the founder of dating website FindSomeone. An expert on website design and usability Nigel was a key consultant and major shareholder in Mighty Ape. Currently he spends his time developing a new virtual music synthesizer, Ultrawave. He is also an award-winning musician with his music video Cymatics having won music video of the year at the 2015 NZ music awards. He was co-producer on the NZ film Second Hand Wedding and Timescapes. Nigel lives in Wellington with his wife and two small children. He designed the famous blue kiwi for Trade Me.
Photo of PHILIP COX

PHILIP COX CTO and Director

After 5 years as a senior developer for TradeMe, Phil helped build Rubber Monkey while living in Australia and the UK, and started working full time for Rubber Monkey in 2012. He’s also a co-owner of e-commerce cosmetics website Beauty Bliss that he built from scratch, and also helped build the website for the video post-production software FilmConvert. Phil is an avid metal fan and is proud to live in Wellington with his wife and two young girls.
Photo of CHRIS OSBORNE

CHRIS OSBORNE Advisor

Chris has a special interest in film and photography, and spends more time scrolling through the Rubber Monkey website than he probably should. He worked on the first Lord of the Rings Trilogy and for the BBC in the UK. He was also one of the first employees of the original iteration of Rubber Monkey, acting as cinematographer on a ‘straight to DVD’ feature film. He also owned one of NZ’s first aerial imagery companies, Sycamore UAV, and still has dreams of being a film-maker. Chris and his wife have a six year old son, who keeps them tired but inspired.
Photo of SUSAN STANFORD

SUSAN STANFORD Head of Accounts

Susan originally comes from a teaching background, Susan previously worked for TradeMe for a number of years where she ran their dating website FindSomeone. She has over 12 years experience working in the Rubber Monkey Accounts role and is one of the original Rubber Monkey staff members.
Photo of CASEY BATCHELOR

CASEY BATCHELOR Operations Manager

Casey has over 12 years experience in operational roles across various industries. She has been with Rubber Monkey just over a year and has a strong focus on the people and culture of the company.
Photo of LIZ PERRYMAN

LIZ PERRYMAN Marketing Manager

Liz comes from a Fine Art background with experience exhibiting in and organising exhibitions across galleries in the UK. She joined the Rubber Monkey team four years ago where she created the marketing team and has since continued to shape and develop the voice of Rubber Monkey.
Photo of GLENN MIERS

GLENN MIERS Sales Director

Glenn has over 20 years of sales experience specialising in electronics, audio and video sales for companies such as High tech industries, Canon and Protel. Glenn has been with Rubber Monkey for eight years and manages the wider sales and support team.
Photo of EDGAR LAUBSCHER

EDGAR LAUBSCHER Auckland Branch Manager

Edgar is a highly experienced live event professional, with almost 30 years in the industry, specialising in live sound, vision and streaming. Starting at a young age mixing for local youth bands, studying a three year course in Entertainment Technology, to a career which has taken him around the world delivering different aspects of live events. From Audio Engineer, to Technical Event Director. A people person, who knows how to simplify complicated technical solutions, while still meeting the brief. He has a passion for using technology creatively.
Photo of JANA ROBINSON

JANA ROBINSON Sydney Branch Manager

Jana comes from a customer service and retail background, with experience in Auckland, Wellington and the UK. She worked for a SaaS transportation start-up which launched in London during her time there and now operates in over 20 countries. She has experience in retail stores and head offices, and began studying a Bachelor of Business in management in 2017. Jana has an interest in photography, film and music, with work experience on film sets and music events. She has played in bands as a bass guitarist and singer and loves to learn about the industry.
Photo of KATIE ALDRIDGE-TUARA

KATIE ALDRIDGE-TUARA Warehouse Manager

Katie joined Rubber Monkey over seven years ago with a music degree and a certificate in live sound and event production under her belt. Throw in the five years experience previously working in warehouses and stockrooms, she was the perfect fit for the warehouse at Rubber Monkey. Having been part of the growth of the company and the development of the processes in the warehouse since then, she was the perfect candidate for Warehouse Manager when the position opened up earlier in the year.
Photo of ANDREW SCLATER

ANDREW SCLATER Rentals Manager

Andrew first started hiring 35mm film equipment and lighting in 1987, has seen the introduction of digital camera sensors and LED lighting and previously worked for Panavision New Zealand in Wellington and Auckland. He has been working at Rubber Monkey for the last 11 years.
Photo of THOMAS WILKINS

THOMAS WILKINS After Sales Care Manager

Thomas comes from over 14 years of retail sales, management and commercial business sales experience. Flexing between running the nation’s busiest photolabs for Fujifilm NZ and Dick Smith, managing the highest foot traffic store at JB Hi-Fi NZ, to providing essential services and products for all ranges of customers. Thomas runs the After Sales Care team to ensure all customer returns are dealt with smoothly and as quickly as possible for all customers.
Photo of LAURA RYAN

LAURA RYAN Support Manager

Laura joined the Rubber Monkey team as our first support team member three years ago. She comes from a dance background where she was teaching and performing for many years. She now runs our customer support team, working closely with the sales crew to provide the best possible experience for our customers.
Photo of DANIEL KUNZ

DANIEL KUNZ Project Manager

Daniel started with Rubber Monkey in 2014 as the first official Warehouse Manager, he has worked hard throughout that time improving all parts of Monkey’s warehousing and order fulfillment processes to make sure we are giving the best service we can to our customers. As of 2022 he has moved into a new role as Project Manager at Rubber Monkey. He has a strong passion for creating, problem solving and engineering, putting him in a great position to expand and grow this division of the company with drive and purpose.

Warning statement

It's crucial for you to understand the characteristics and risks of this investment opportunity. New Zealand law normally requires people who offer financial products to provide in-depth information to investors before they invest. The usual rules do not apply to offers by companies through Snowball Effect. As a result, you may not be given all the information you need to make an informed decision. Investing is risky. Some of the key risks include loss of capital, illiquidity, lack of returns, dilution, loss of key people and customers, and lack of control. You should only invest money that you can afford to lose.