easyProperty, the most recent addition to the easyGroup, has successfully closed their equity crowdfunding round on Crowdcube. The startup was founded by Robert Ellice, with the support of Stelios Haji Ionnou, the billionaire founder of easyJet. The offer on Crowdcube had an initial goal of raising £1 million but closed over-funded at £1.42 million with the participation of 396 investors. The single largest investment was in the amount of £200,000. easyProperty seeks to disrupt the traditional property listing process in the United Kingdom. easyProperty described their service as “[having] taken the traditional high street estate agent, stripped it down, and built it back up. Now we have something that performs better”.
Ellice was quoted following the successful crowdfunding round;
“The ‘easy’ philosophy is simple – disrupting the status quo and offering people significant savings on what they would normally pay. Now it’s time to shake up an out-dated property industry,” explained Ellice, CEO for easyProperty. “Crowdcube was the ideal partner, with over 90,000 registered members providing a ready-made investment audience. By offering a stake in the company, easyProperty is giving landlords, property vendors and private investors a unique opportunity to be part of a market revolution.”
easyProperty hosted an official launch party this past week at the Natural History Museum’s dinosaur hall. It was reported that over 200 properties have been listed on the easyProperty platform with more than 3300 landlords representing 16,000 properties have registered on the site.
The funding round generated some controversy when “Private Equity Guru Jon Moulton” attacked Stelios in a stinging diatribe stating; “Sir Stelios has offered 1.5 per cent ownership in the new company for a substantial £1m. The business is not trading so he’s valuing it at £67m, which you must assume he thinks is a great deal for him as he clearly does not need the money.”
Stelios was not one to run for cover as he quickly fired back with a round of facts clarifying that Jon Moulton had ironically invested in easyProperty to the tune of £75,000 and the fact that Stelios is not an actual shareholder in easyProperty as he has licensed the easyProperty brand to Robert Ellice and company.
Stelios was benevolent enough to deliver the good news to Moulton that his investment was faring quite well on Crowdcube at the time of his writing;
“[Moulton] will be happy to hear that easyProperty has managed to bust its crowdfunding requirement with days to spare – raising £1.25m in just days – more than 25 per cent over the asking amount.”
Crowdcube stated the closing of the crowdfunding round would coincide with the investment round run by Chrystal Capital, which was understood to have so far secured more than £6m.
Have a crowdfunding offering you'd like to share? Submit an offering for consideration using our Submit a Tip form and we may share it on our site!