ustralians adopting a more active lifestyle since lockdown and is now primed for growth. In fact, it eclipsed its equity crowdfunding campaign goal in a little under four hours on Wednesday to raise over $300,000 – with a maximum target set at $1.2 million. The business, built out of a desire to connect regular Australians with the great outdoors, is looking to use the money raised through its Birchal campaign to enter the highly lucrative US market, according to Cam Greenwood.  “We really want to deepen our presence in the US specifically,” Greenwood told Inside Retail.  “We’ve had a lot of interest, not only from customers in the US, but a lot of other outdoor brands and retailers. We’re doing a collaboration with [US outdoor marketplace] Huckberry in July, and they’ll feature some of our top selling apparel, and some gear like backpacks.” Additionally, Zorali is looking to expand its range to deliver a more complete experience for its growing customer base. While the brand has grown significantly in the last several years, amounting to a little over $3 million in sales, Greenwood said Zorali could have really suffered throughout the pandemic. Instead, it flourished. “We’re an outdoor brand, and people are getting locked inside,” Greenwood said.  “It was such a negative time for so many people, but nothing could have reinforced our mission to get the world outside more than a global pandemic. And I think people have really grown to appreciate nature, even in tiny doses, like taking five minutes during a lunch break to go somewhere green and look at the trees, and I think that’s really helped us. “The outdoors is not a proving ground to be conquered: it’s a place to be enjoyed.” “We stand for tangible values” As with many emerging businesses, a large part of Zorali’s mission is focused on sustainability, mental health and wellness. It utilises recycled and organic materials in its designs, and views the outdoors as a place people can use to recover from the stress and anxiety of modern life. “People are increasingly overwhelmed by stress and anxiety living in an overstimulated complex world, and our brand is centred around an invitation of inviting people to feel the restorative power of nature,” Greenwood said.  “Our largest customer base is millennials, and I guess they’re drawn to authenticity. We stand for tangible values, and our business model aligns with those values.” While Zorali currently operates as a direct-to-consumer online brand, Greenwood sees the potential for a physical store in the future – but only when the business can create a store that reflects the values of the brand. Zorali is the latest in a run of online brands turning to equity crowdfunding in order to gather the capital needed to scale, avoiding more traditional forms of financing. Last year, zero-waste cleaning brand Zero Co launched a campaign on Birchal to expand its operations and walked away with $5 million from over 3,000 investors.  Similarly, Beer Cartel raised $1.4 million to go toward growing its market share in the competitive online alcohol category, and online florist Floraly launched a campaign to expand its same-day delivery network and raised $616,000.