Crowdcube: First UK Crowdfunding Platform to Raise £200 Million

On Monday, Crowdcube announced it was the first UK crowdfunding platform to raise £200 million for more than 430 businesses. This news comes just after lingerie and nightwear brand, Bluebella, secured over £1 million through the funding portal from more than 600 investors.

Crowdcube-foundersThe equity crowdfunding platform stated:

We predicted last year that investment rounds would get bigger in 2016, with the average amount raised going up. In our experience, this prediction definitely rang true with the largest crowdfunding rounds to date having been completed on Crowdcube this year. As 2016 draws to a close, 116 raises have been done on Crowdcube, raising a total £69m for ambitious businesses in the last 12 months alone.”

Crowdcube also released the ten largest campaigns completed through its portal in 2016:

  1. Crowdcube: £6.7 million
  2. goHenry: £4 million
  3. BrewDog: £3.5 million (currently live on Crowdcube)
  4. Pocket: £2.5 million
  5. Innis & Gunn: £2.4 million
  6. Witt Energy: £2.4 million
  7. GripIt Fixings: £2 million
  8. Zing Zing: £1.6 million
  9. HealthUnlocked: £1.5 million
  10. Powervault: £1.4 million

The funding portal went on to reveal its predictions for 2017:

  1. Crowdcube CelebrationReturning to the crowd: “We will see more businesses coming back to crowdfunding for series B and series C rounds. As well as coming back to the crowd for follow-on funding rounds, we also expect more businesses to go to the next level of investment with venture capital and a variety of institutional investors, as Farmdrop did this year when it closed a £3m funding round led by Atomico.”
  2. More returns for investors: “2015 saw the first two exits in crowdfunding, with the sale of E-Car Club, an electric car sharing scheme, to Europcar, and craft brewer, Camden Town Brewery to drinks giant AB InBev. 2016 continued the trend with a third exit in 12 months, thanks to disruptive fashion brand Wool and the Gang, which was sold to BlueGem Capital partners. Combined with bond interest payments, a total of £5m has been returned to investors on Crowdcube since 2013, and we fully expect to see more returns due to trade sales and IPOs – a further indication of how the crowdfunding industry is maturing and the diversity of returns that crowd investors can expect to receive.”
  3. Brexit fallout will lead to government ‘PDAs’: “There is going to be a lot of political maneuvering and posturing in the next 12 to 24 months, and British businesses and entrepreneurs are just going to have to get on with it. Business cannot stay in limbo forever. We can expect to see more ‘public displays of affection’ by the Government to appease disgruntled ‘remainers’ who are unhappy and uncertain. We’ve seen this happening already with the Chancellor announcing plans in his Autumn Statement for £400m of VC funds for growth-stage businesses in the UK. While a good start, we would argue that limiting this much-needed cash injection of investment to traditional VCs is short-sighted and fails to recognize the impact of crowdfunding on seed-stage and growth businesses in this country.”
  4. Due diligence will remain an important talking point: “Following the publication of a report in November from AltFi Data into the status of businesses that have raised finance from crowdfunding, we can expect to see more transparency around due diligence in crowdfunding and also how well businesses are performing post-funding. The industry needs a level of due diligence, disclosure, and reporting that all parties – entrepreneurs, investors, and regulators – can understand. This level of transparency is crucial for the industry to continue to mature. We will see a much more unified approach by the industry and potentially the development of a standard that sets out the required operating principles and a common portfolio performance methodology.”
  5. The next wave of tech businesses: “According to Beauhurst, technology is still the most popular sector, and the industry is waiting to see what the next wave of investment opportunities will be. We are seeing the range of businesses becoming increasingly diverse, with more and more coming from the fintech, cleantech, and health tech sectors, which are turning to the crowd to raise funds. This year goHenry, Monzo, and Crowdcube broke crowdfunding records, and we predict a growing appetite from investors to back businesses in the fintech sector.”

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