Neil Woodford’s Patient Capital Trust and Rothschild-backed Augmentum Capital lead £10m investment into crowdfunding platform Seedrs July 30, 2015 Star fund manager Neil Woodford and a venture capital fund backed by Lord Rothschild have led a funding round into online crowdfunding platform Seedrs, valuing the business at £30m. Woodford's Patent Capital Trust and Augmentum Capital said they will invest £7.5m into London-based Seedrs. The company will raise an additional £2.5m by targeting existing shareholders and other individual investors [...]
How crowdfunding will revolutionise R&D: What platforms offer the world’s most innovative businesses July 30, 2015 Iriss Medical recently closed a round on Seedrs, 197 per cent funded. The company makes an innovative medical device which performs automatic eye tests aimed at the early detection and prevention of lazy eye in children. It raised £491,387 for 4.92 per cent equity. Over the past decade, donation-based crowdfunding has played a reasonably [...]
What should investors make of the first equity crowdfunding exit? July 22, 2015 Harriet Green asks what equity crowdfunded firm E-Car Club’s buyout means for the growing sector If you're putting money into equity crowdfunding, the first question at the front of your mind is “will I get a return on my investment?” – and then “will it be decent?”. Last year, equity crowdfunding in the UK [...]
Building the next five years in alternative finance: How marketplace lending is becoming part of industry furniture July 15, 2015 When we look back, 2015-16 will be seen as the watershed moment: when peer-to-peer (P2P) lending and crowdfunding made the big time, transitioning from quirky innovation to a respected alternative source of finance and investment opportunities. The government has clearly been persuaded of the potential benefits of so-called alternative finance – especially as a [...]
Sir Clive Sinclair is crowdfunding a new invention: The A-Bike Electric July 14, 2015 Fresh from his victorious fundraising for an updated ZX Spectrum, Sir Clive Sinclair has a new invention seeking crowdfunding – the world's lightest and most compact electric bike. The A-Bike Electric – an upgrade of the original which launched nearly a decade ago – is about to launch on Kickstarter, where Sinclair's team is [...]
Alternative finance in Asia: Cambridge’s Robert Wardrop on this exciting, untapped market July 8, 2015 Alternative finance is a growing business in the West. In 2014, UK peer-to-peer and crowdfunding platforms made £1.74bn available to firms and individuals, with growth of 168 per cent in Britain and 144 per cent across Europe. But what does the landscape look like on other continents? Set to be published by the end [...]
Former Apple exec Jeff Martin joins London smart city startup Pavegen as crowdfunding reaches £2m July 5, 2015 London-based tech startup Pavegen which creates hi-tech flooring with the potential to power cities has announced that Jeff Martin, formerly a senior executive at Apple, will join its advisory board. The news came as the firm announced it has smashed its crowdfunding target, raising nearly £2m from online investors. Martin worked with iconic Apple founder [...]
Greek bailout crowdfunding campaign: Seven amazing numbers about the Indiegogo campaign to save Greece July 2, 2015 A campaign by one Londoner to crowdfund a bailout for Greece, first reported by City A.M on Monday, set the internet alight this week as the country teeters dangerously close to an exit from the Eurozone. The scheme to raise the cash needed to prevent Greece defaulting on its debts has gained astonishing attention – [...]
London coffee chain surges past £600,000 crowdfunding target June 30, 2015 ARTISAN coffee brand Notes smashed through its £600,000 fundraising target yesterday, reaching over £670,000 by last night. The firm chose crowdfunding as its method to raise the funds, and is using the Crowdcube online platform to do so. Over 25 per cent of the target amount was raised within 48 hours of the pitch going [...]
Crowdfunding Greece: This Indiegogo Grexit bailout crowdfund has reached a six-figure sum June 30, 2015 Sceptical of the power of people? Us too. But you can't help but be impressed by the fact this crowdfunding campaign to help Greece meet its debts has already reached a six-figure sum. At 2pm on Tuesday the total raised had reached nearly €125, 000 from donations made by 7,743 people in just one [...]