Mode Global raises £2m as it looks to recover from cashback controversy
Crypto firm Mode Global said it had raised £2m today as it looks to get back on the front foot after a crypto cashback scandal last year.
Mode Global, founded by executive chairman Jonathan Rowland, said it had raised £2m via convertible loan notes to new and existing investors alongside certain Mode directors.
The cash raise comes after the firm was mired in controversy in November last year when it announced it had partnered with Boots, Homebase and Ocado for a bitcoin cashback scheme, only for the firms to quickly rebuff the claims and send shares plummeting.
Founder Rowland pushed through a clearout of the firm’s top brass after the scandal, but its share price has been in freefall for the past six months, sliding over 73 per cent.
In a statement today, Rowland said the fundraise was a vote of confidence from investors in its ability to develop “a suite of products that offers long-term value to businesses and consumers that modernize financial services”.
“The latest fundraising round shows that investors believe we have done that, and will continue to do so in the long term,” he said.
“In today’s tough environment, our ability to close the fundraising round shows that we, and crypto, are here to stay.”
Rowland, the son of property tycoon David “Spotty” Rowland, founded the firm in 2019 to give retail investors a place to “buy, earn, grow and pay” with fiat currency and crypto.
The fundraise today comes after it announced its full year results at the end of June, in which it said it was pleased with the progress made.
“2021 was a big year for Mode. Our aim was to grow our user base and give them the products they want. Put simply, we achieved what we set out to do,” said Rita Liu, the chief executive officer of Mode.