NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Red Lobster and Bahama MyFi are the first two companies to launch on the ArawakX crowdfunding platform, with the founders touting the move as a step towards financial inclusion for Bahamians.
D’Arcy Rahming Jr, chief technology officer of ArawakX, said: “We have tried to make it super simple so that companies and investors can onboard. These are assets you are purchasing. Those assets come with certain rights, dividends [and] the ability to borrow money against them.
“We have tried to make it [as] easy as easy as possible for people to get onto the system…and lower the barriers. This is meant to be about financial inclusion.”
Businessman Christopher Mortimer, chairman of Pinnacle Franchise Brands, which has the Red Lobster franchise rights for the Caribbean, estimates that The Bahamas has a $100 million dining out market.
The company is looking to raise at least $2.7 million to cover the cost of construction, outfitting the restaurant and working capital. The company plans to open the first Red Lobster restaurant in New Providence in 2022, the second in 2023, a third in Jamaica in 2024, a fourth in the Dominican Republic in 2026 and a fifth in Trinidad in 2028.
Marcian Cash, CEO of Bahama MyFi, an augmented reality-based travel ecosystem, noted that the company spent a year and a half doing research on cruise ship and stopover visitors. The company’s “groove tourism” marketplace utilizes augmented reality (AR) to provide an immersive and customizable vacation experience. The company, which also offers Wi-Fi services, is seeking a capital injection of $1.8 million to remain solvent, hire staff, complete ongoing redevelopment of its major applications and acquire necessary assets.
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