When former soccer teammates Dean, Dylan and Jon decided they needed to raise money to expedite the next phase of their sports merchandise start-up, tapping into the mountain of cash held by private equity firms was never considered.

The trio, who launched The Stubby Club in 2018 after experimenting with printing sports designs on their stubby holder dispensers, which can store loose stubby holders, instead chose Equitise – a crowdfunding business allowing “everyday people” to buy shares in early-stage private companies.