Having initially set a target of £750,000, Seedrs has closed a new funding round worth £2.1 million – in exchange for a 30 per cent stake.
The round has seen participation from some 850 investors on the Seedrs crowdfunding platform, and reportedly breaks all existing records for most capital raised through an equity platform and for the number investors involved.
Set up by Jeff Lynn and Carlos Silva in 2010 to help start-ups access early-stage capital, Seedrs enters into a subscription agreement with every investee company. It then holds and administers the shares of said company as nominee for the underlying investors.
Speaking to GrowthBusiness at the end of November, co-founder Silva outlined new plans by Seedrs to enter the European market – a decision based on realising the platform had proven the model well enough in the UK and gained enough of an international reputation that it would be well-received as it moved into further countries, he said.
The £2.1 million Seedrs has now secured will be used to fund its pan-European expansion, following an annualised growth rate of more than 600 per cent.
Lynn, co-founder at Seedrs, comments, ‘We were completely overwhelmed by the support our campaign received. We see this as a tremendous validation of equity crowdfunding, our model and our business, and we want to thank everyone who has invested for joining us on our journey.
‘This exciting new form of finance which allows new businesses to raise money from ordinary investors is here to stay and Seedrs securing £2 million using our own platform is a vote for equity crowdfunding done properly, with protections for investors and a straightforward process for companies.’
More on Seedrs:
- Entrepreneur’s experience of using Seedrs
- Boris Johnson, Seedrs and TCIO rally to form £1 million prize pot
- Seedrs comment on government regulation for crowdfunding
Seedrs has previously closed a number of smaller investment rounds involving venture capital firms and angel backers. Its last came back in May 2012 when the likes of DFJ Esprit, Digital Prophets and other angels contributed to a £1 million transaction.
As part of the in-depth look at Seedrs GrowthBusiness compiled in November, Carlos also said of the coming year, ‘We want to greatly improve the experience for our users, particularly our international users for whom the experience is still not up to par with the one we provide our UK users.
‘We also want to increase socialisation and social engagement on the platform and we want to continue forging fantastic partnerships with the top accelerators, incubators, VCs and angels across Europe.’
