Squirrel, a personal finance app designed to help users have more control over their money, will raise £400,000 on SyndicateRoom. The platform reported that experienced angel investor Jos Evans will be the lead investor on the funding round having committed £100,000 to Squirrel. SyndicateRoom members may now participate for up to £300,000.
Squirrel was incubated at TechStars According to Crunchbase, Squirrel has previously raised $1.1 million from seed investors and a grant. Squirrel will use the proceeds of this round to expand the platform’s capability and service a broader demographic.
“Engaging online investors in a fundraise has been a route that we’ve been
considering for some time,” said Mutaz Qubbaj, CEO and founder, Squirrel. “However, it was crucial to reach a point where we could demonstrate our success and track record, so we could make it a solid opportunity. It’s been an incredible journey for the business so far, and we’re excited to welcome investors to join us from this point.”
Qubbaj called SyndicateRoom a natural choice and lauded its approach of pairing experienced angel investors with each listing on their platform.
Evans called Squirrel a highly investable idea with tremendous growth opportunity.
Squirrel is an FCA-authorised business which issues users with a bank account and provides an application to create a budget. The app allocates income, expenditures, and savings before the user gets access to their money, ensuring the money needed to cover essentials, such as rent and bills, is set aside. In the UK, it is estimated that 21% of people are living off their overdraft within the first week of being paid.
The Fintech firm has experienced solid growth reporting that in the past three years over 5800 users have signed up with £2.9 million flowing through its bank accounts. The company has experienced good traction in lower income demographics. Over the next 12 to 18 months, Squirrel plans to broaden its reach to the student and pensioner communities.
“Welcoming Squirrel onto our platform marks another step in SyndicateRoom’s journey in getting great British businesses funded,” commented Gonçalo de Vasconcelos, CEO and co-founder, SyndicateRoom. “At our core, we’re about working with companies that are on a mission to make the world a better place. We were thrilled to see our first exit last month in the medical technology sector, and remain very proud of the greater impact that our members are having on society through their investment decisions. Squirrel is a great example of such investment opportunities, offering both a disruptive and scalable business centred on creating meaningful, positive social outcomes.”
SyndicateRoom’s award-winning and pioneering investor-led model has brought online investors the opportunity to invest in scalable British businesses alongside professional angels on the same economic terms, whilst also doing their bit for social good. At the same time, the platform has enabled genuinely impactful British businesses like Squirrel to gain access to much-needed growth capital more easily and more efficiently than is offered currently by the banks.
In addition to being featured in the five fintech startups to watch from Barclays Accelerator, Squirrel has won a number of awards. These include Wired London Startup and the Duke of York’s Pitch@Palace.
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