Hectare is raising capital once again on the pages of leading UK based crowdfunding platform Seedrs. Its current securities offering is for £1 million for a 5.88% equity stake that is now in over-funding mode as £1.44 million has been committed representing 8.27% equity in the firm. The pre-money valuation has been set at £16 million.
The first time Hectare raised capital on Seedrs was several years ago and the company has since raised successive funding on the platform.
In 2015, Hectare, then doing business as Sell My Livestock, raised £210,110 at a pre month valuation of £850,000.
In 2016, SellMyLivestock/Graindex raised £274,380 in a convertible note offering a 20% on a future priced funding round.
In January 2018, Hectare closed on £1.38 million in equity offering on Seedrs at a pre-money valuation of £8 million.
A follow on pre-emption offering soon followed that October when Hectare raised £417,848 from 212 investors. The pre-emption was offered as a new group of investors stepped in and the priced round was pegged at the same terms of the previous funding round.
Today, Hectare has raised the £1.44 million from 984 investors and the offering is a good example of how crowdfunding has evolved in the UK. Promising early-stage firms can go from Seed to Series whatever while raising capital from VCs – or in this case angels. Meanwhile, retail investors can participate as well.
Of note, the structure of the investment vehicle, a nominee, means the rights of earlier investors can be protected from possible dilution. This is an important feature and one all crowdfunding investors should expect from all platforms – otherwise, you can be a couple of steps away from dilution to nearly nothing.
As for Hectare, it is a growing digital marketplace for the agri-farm industry. The company is applying updated tech to an industry that has been around, well, forever.
Hectare currently operates two online platforms, SellMyLivestock and Graindex as they seek to make farmers’ existence easier. It used to be a phone/fax/in-person process to buy and sell livestock and commodity ag products. Hectare is now providing an internet-based service where you can buy and sell for free or choose to pay a small per month fee to gain premium placement. The service makes sense. Over 50,000 farms are said to be using the service. Graindex, a newer vertical lives up to its name by creating a digital marketplace for grains and other crops.
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