Retail app Octer quickly raising major second round of crowdfunding May 17, 2015 Mobile shopping app Octer has returned to the equity-based crowdfunding platform Seedrs, to raise a second round of funding. It is aiming to bring in a total of £700,000, in exchange for 7.48 per cent equity, giving a total valuation of £8.6m. The valuation has been agreed by key investors, and Octer’s principal investors have [...]
The right trousers: Aardman’s David Sproxton talks risk-averse TV and crowdfunding Morph May 17, 2015 You may have seen several giant Shaun the Sheeps around central London recently. Fifty of the woolly critters are gracing the capital’s public spaces, raising money for children’s hospitals across the country. “Shaun in the City” forms an arts trail for fans, and also coincides with the launch of Shaun’s first movie. For David [...]
Poundworld owners quids in after selling majority stake to US private equity firm TPG in £150m deal May 15, 2015 Britain's second-largest single price retailer Poundworld has been snapped up by US-based private equity group TPG in a deal reportedly valuing the business at £150m. Poundworld was started from a market stall in Wakefield, West Yorkshire in 1974 by owner Chris Edwards Sr and has since growth to have around 270 stores and over 5000 employees. [...]
Avon claims $8bn takeover offer from private equity firm PTG Partners was false May 14, 2015 Avon says it has not received a takeover offer from private equity firm PTG Capital Partners, contradicting a filing released earlier today via the Securities and Exchange Commission. PTG claimed it had made a cash offer to the cosmetics firm worth $8.2bn (£5.2bn), or $18.5-per-share. This is more than three times the company's value according [...]
A crowdfunding campaign is trying to save us from life-threatening asteroids May 14, 2015 If a huge asteroid slammed into the Earth with crushing force tomorrow, it could swiftly bring an end to all humankind. Luckily, that's not going to happen – our asteroid analysis and predictive techniques are advanced enough to tell when a devastating impact might happen in the near future. But that's not to say [...]
Ask the crowdfunding industry: Founders James Codling and Dillen Iyavoo on inflated valuations May 6, 2015 The growth rate of equity-based crowdfunding has been impressive. Research by Judge Business School and EY has shown that, between 2012 and 2014, volumes grew from €5m to €111m in the UK, rising four-fold last year. But while more and more individuals are considering both equity and debt-based crowdfunding as a novel but viable investment [...]
Uber teams up with peer-to-peer lender Zopa to help drivers buy their own cars May 6, 2015 Uber is aiming to make it easier for its drivers to buy their own cars by teaming up with peer-to-peer (P2P) lender Zopa. The taxi-hailing app's partnership with the world's first P2P marketplace will give drivers renting a licensed vehicle access to a loan agreement with one of Zopa's institutional lenders, allowing them to swap [...]
Currency affairs: FreemarketFX founder Alex Hunn on launching on crowdfunding platform VentureFounders April 29, 2015 London is the biggest market in the world for FX trading. In 2012, the UK’s daily FX turnover averaged nearly $2 trillion, according to data from TheCityUK. Alex Hunn has a background in the industry. A former Credit Suisse First Boston and Deutsche Bank vice president and director respectively, in 2011, he started building [...]
Private equity goes to the circus April 20, 2015 A GROUP led by the Texas-based private equity fund TPG Capital has bought a controlling stake in the Canadian circus and entertainment company Cirque du Soleil. The group of investors includes Fosun Capital Group, owned by Chinese conglomerate Fosun International. While no financial terms were disclosed for the deal, it is thought to value Cirque du [...]
Peer-to-peer lender Assetz raises £3m from crowdfund site Seedrs April 20, 2015 A pair of peer-to-peer sites came together in a funding operation yesterday which underlines the growing clout of the alternative finance sector. Lending site Assetz raised £3m through equity fundraising site Seedrs. It takes the total raised by debt crowdfunders on Seedrs to more than £4.5m. The debt firm had planned to raise £2m on the [...]