ArawakX is set to allow Bahamians to invest in health, tech, tourist attractions and agribusiness come July through share ownership, the company noted in a press statement.
ArawakX is the first crowdfunding platform and stock exchange that will help Bahamians to invest in and own part of a startup company.
While crowdfunding has been a major boon for startup companies across the world for years now, the regulation of such a sector has only recently been legislated and local companies in the sector are only now jamming their foot in the door.
Chief Technology Officer and spokesperson for ArawakX D’Arcy Rahming Jr. said in the statement that the company will be publicly traded and offer investment opportunities to Bahamians of all financial levels.
“The primary purpose of ArawakX is to move Bahamians from consumers to owners,” he pointed out. “We have targeted early-stage international startups that are resident in The Bahamas and our rules are written for Bahamians to participate through share ownership. Our regulations are very robust and provide strong protections for Bahamian owners.
“We are changing the reality that Bahamians can only get jobs from these companies, but now they can actually own a portion of them. When the company grows, so will the potential wealth of the owner investor.”
According to Rahming, the regulatory hurdles to create the company were high and required more than four years of scrutiny, hundreds of pages of applications, hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees, solvency requirements and proof that the company could operate the exchange.
“We have welcomed the challenge because it has made us a world-class organization from the onset,” he said.
“We are literally completing requirements in 80 days that it have taken other world-class exchanges 500 days. We are able to do this because of our dynamic team of national veterans, international advisors and a cadre of highly-educated, young Bahamian millennials, some of whom decided to come back after being educated abroad to give back while building the country.”
Rahming explained that entry investments will be as low as $25, made possible by financial technology and regulations. He added that ArawakX could create hundreds of jobs.
ArawakX has added to its executive management team Winston Rolle, businessman and former chief executive officer (CEO) of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation, as ArawakX’s chief of equities; Leroy Archer, former CEO of Heineken Bahamas, as ArawakX’s chief of investor relations; and Kenneth Donathon, former CEO of RND, as ArawakX’s chief community officer.
“These successful and proven Bahamian executives should give confidence to the Bahamian and international community,” Rahming said.
“Additionally, our rules are being designed and vetted by some of the world’s foremost authorities on exchanges. We have literally looked at dozens of exchange rulesets and adopted the best ones to suit Bahamians so that they can grow their wealth.”
