Bitreserve Raises £6.3 Million Crowdfunding on Crowdcube & Venovate

Side by Side US / UK Investment Offer Called Fundraising Record by Crowdcube.

Innovative bitcoin financial service company Bitreserve has raised £6.3 million ($9.527 million) according to a statement by company representatives. The offer was simultaneously posted on Crowdcube in the UK and Venovate in the US. The amount raised is said to be the second largest crowdfunding round in the digital currency sector and tops the previous funding record on Crowdcube which was previously £1.9 million. The paired offer is only one of a few transantlantic investment crowdfunding placements that have occurred, but is indicative of growing interest in publicly soliciting for investors on a global basis.  Bitreserve is expected to close the round to institutional investors by the end of January with a total raise of £7.9 million.  One estimate placed Bitreserve company valuation at $90 million.

Founder and CEO of Bitreserve, Halsey Minor had stated at the start of the offering; 

“While this concept is still early, we believe that the new private securities funding models are trending towards right side of history. It supports a future where all investors will have equal rights to participate in the kind of investment opportunities that today are only shown to the wealthy and institutions.”

CEO and founder of Venovate Michael Raneri commented on the accomplishment;

“We are delighted to have been a part of this incredibly successful fund raise, bringing added efficiency, transparency and accessibility to the process for both the investor and Bitreserve. Bitreserve is at the forefront of redefining how the world uses currency, and we were excited to offer the qualified investors and advisors on our platform the chance to explore and participate in this type of opportunity.”

Over 130 “everyday” investors committed more than £500,000, amounting to more than 6% of the expected total raise. Bitreserve’s pitch was Crowdcube’s 100th business to reach its goal, the largest raised in Crowdcube’s history. While in the UK any investor had the option to participate, US investors were restricted to only “Accredited Investors” thus blocking the vast majority of the population from participating in the investing round.  The minimum investment amount on Venovate was $20,000.  The minimum investment for registered users of the Crowdcube platform stands at £10.

Halsey Minor is a well established internet and tech pioneer who has founded and/ or financed many successful technology ventures including CNET, Salesforce.com, Rhapsody, OpenDNS, and Grand Central (Google Voice).

Bitreserve enables members to hold bitcoin as stable, real-world value — euros, dollars, sterling, yen, yuan and gold — but still spend it as bitcoin. This shields Bitreserve members from bitcoin’s wild volatility, and enables cloud money that is instant and free to send and receive. Bitreserve is also the first real-time transparent financial service, publishing a real-time, verifiable proof of solvency, so members always know their value is safe. Bitreserve is headquartered in Charleston, SC with offices in Braga, Shanghai and San Francisco. The capital injection will be used to expand its engineering team, corporate hiring, and to support international expansion.

Luke Lang, Co-Founder and CMO of Crowdcube, said, “Bitreserve is the first digital currency company to raise on Crowdcube and the fact that it smashed its investment target demonstrates there’s real interest in the future of digital money.”

Bitreserve’s President Tim Parsa added,  “It’s been a real pleasure interacting with the savvy Crowdcube and Venovate investors. Raising venture capital has been secretive and elitist for far too long. We share Crowdcube and Venovate’s commitment to transparency and inclusiveness and we’re proud to welcome over 130 new investors to the Bitreserve family.”