Mirvac Bondi Beach and Harold Park apartments in wholesale investor crowd funding initiative

Mirvac has established a crowdfunding-based property investment scheme.

Wholesale investors in the VentureCrowd Property platform will invest in Mirvac's apartments in Sydney.

An apartment in its Moreton complex under construction near Bondi Beach has been included for investment on the platform, and another apartment in the Chevalier apartment building at its Harold Park complex at Glebe.

The platform is being supported by Artesian Capital.

The new platform, known as VentureCrowd Property offers wholesale investors a chance to invest in Mirvac properties from $100 plus.

Crowdfunding is an emerging method of raising funds, in which individuals can invest in a venture by submitting funds through an online platform open to anyone across the internet.

The new model could also provide an alternative funding source for large developments, Artesian Capital managing director Jeremy Colless said.

VentureCrowd Property will allow investors, and ultimately retail investors, to build diversified property portfolios without the financing and property management hassles, or having to deal with real estate agents and conveyancing firms.

“We expect to see legislative changes in 2015 which will allow crowdfunding investment opportunities to be extended to retail investors, particularly as rising property prices make it more difficult for younger investors to enter the market,” said Jeremy Colless.

"As part of our mandate to innovate we have agreed to provide two apartments from our popular Sydney projects to the trial, enabling us to better understand the ins and outs of crowdfunding," said John Carfi, CEO Residential Development, Mirvac Group.

Investment experts VentureCrowd forecast the investment method is expected to be worth US$250 billion in the US within the next five years.

Since VentureCrowd’s equity crowdfunding platform was launched in 2013, sophisticated investors have invested more than $2 million in high-growth tech companies, fast-tracking growth in companies such as Ingogo, Fame & Partners, Posse/Beat the Q and CrowdMobile.

“The VentureCrowd platform has proven to be a compelling alternative capital raising solution for seed and later stage high-growth companies,” Colless said.

“We are now expanding the platform to encapsulate the much larger property market.”