London-based crowdfunding platform Seedrs is now expanding across the whole of Europe. To help support this European expansion, Seedrs is raising £500K, using its own platform, in return for an 8.81% equity stake in the growing business.
Seedrs already has more than 25,000 registered members on its books, who can back businesses with as little as £10. Since launching 16 months ago, it’s funded 48 deals and helped them to get off the ground. Seedrs has only been available to UK residents until now, and the company announced it has been growing at an annual rate of more than 600%.
Jeff Lynn, CEO and co-founder of Seedrs, stated: “We’ve grown at a remarkable pace since we began our mission to open up early-stage investing to people who want exposure to asset classes that were previously reserved for the very rich. Now we’re providing that same opportunity to many millions more all across Europe – and giving startups across the continent access to a new and much wider pool of capital in the process.”
Seedrs allows entrepreneurs to pitch for seed capital for their startup businesses in return for giving an equity stake to investors. Unlike rewards-based crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter, where funders receive products but not financial returns, Seedrs investors share the potential success of the businesses and stand to make significant amounts of money if a business succeeds.
The site is already Britain’s most active crowdfunding platform, averaging three deals per month since launch compared to its closest competitor’s two deals per month. It was also the first equity crowdfunding platform to receive regulatory approval from a financial regulator, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority. Seedrs has previously been backed by leading European venture capital firm DFJ Esprit, Digital Prophets and numerous prominent angel investors.
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