Sydney Business’s advice for success after hedging all of her bets on an FTX crypto investor

A young businesswoman has warned any Australian starting a start-up not to conduct background checks on their investors after suffering a major blow when their key backer blew a six-figure sum for cryptocurrency.

Eleanor Meireles, 38, a woman from Sydney, watched as her thriving business Dwell Nicely – touted as “Airbnb for renters” – collapsed late last year after her main backer lost heavily when crypto exchange FTX went bankrupt.

Ms. Meireles had poured her life savings of $175,000 into the company and hoped the investor could help her grow.

But it all came crashing down when the investor texted her and admitted that she had been crushed by the collapse of FTX – which was once the world’s third largest crypto exchange.

The simple text read, “I had six-figure capital in it.”

After being utterly wiped out by FTX’s bankruptcy, Eleanor Merieles says her startup has been completely derailed by the ordeal

Crypto exchange FTX filed for bankruptcy last November and its founder is now fighting in court over snowball scheme charges that have pleaded not guilty

The turmoil came just months before Silicon Valley Bank, a techie favorite in the US, similarly collapsed without warning, sending thousands more down the same perilous path.

With her app now dormant, Ms. Merieles is now warning others about the importance of researching potential business partners’ portfolios and considering how their personal choices may affect you.

Ms. Mieleles founded Dwell Nicely back in 2019 and grew the company into a popular marketplace that brings landlords and renters together based on their preferences and needs.

The idea, which she describes as “like Tinder,” brought landlords and renters together by using “reviews like AirBnB but for long-term rentals in Australia,” like the popular dating app.

“We had an investor to help us expand into the UK and beyond but their funds were tied up by the FTX crash and when that happened we lost our investor,” Ms Merieles told Daily Mail Australia.

“There was no recovery, we had to close,” Ms Merieles said this week, four months after the crash.

Looking back, she admits that while she’s “probably not the person to give tips,” there’s one thing she can’t stress enough.

‘Definitely find investors with diverse portfolios instead of having all their wealth in one place.’

Dwell Nicely was “like Tinder,” bringing landlords and renters together with a swipe, just like the popular dating app

Ms Merieles urges others to find investors with diverse portfolios rather than having all of their wealth in one place

Since the $32bn FTX crash, Ms Merieles has been offering anecdotal advice to potential renters on social media and on Dwell Nicely’s two Facebook groups, which supply Australia and the UK.

“We hope to revive the business one day, we still believe strongly in what we tried,” Ms Merieles said.

“We are open to opportunities from investors and we have had a number of people contacting us since it was announced that we were closing. ‘

“If the right investor comes along, one day Dwell could soon be helping the tenants again.”

Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk