Konrad Bergström, founder of the headset and speaker company Zound Industries, is planning to raise up to €2.5 million (about $2.8 million) in a crowdfunding campaign on FundByMe for his venture, X Shore, which builds luxury electric boats. The campaign will start June 20. Until now, Bergström has put in all the capital himself.
According to Forbes, Zound was founded in 2008 and five years later was determined to Sweden’s fastest growing company by the Swedish business newspaper, Dagens Industri. In 2018, the publication reported turnover of SEK 1.86 billion ($196.2 million).
By using the crowdfunding, Bergström hopes to develop a community of investors with similar commitment to reducing marine pollution. He bought a performance boat and said that each time he took out the vessel, he “felt at odds with it.”
In a statement, Bergström said, “I was going out as a stressed-out businessman with all the fumes from the engine and creating sound pollution. Yet I wanted to be in harmony with the sea, to hear the sound of water against the side of the boat, to get my energy back. I couldn’t hear the other people in the boat over the noise of the engine.”
