On a mission to transform investing, London-based CIRCA5000 (C5K) has just closed a €4.5 million crowdfunding campaign on CrowdCube, smashing the original target of €1.1 million in only 10 minutes.
The latest round of funding comes as the company launches its latest feature – Personal Pension offerings. These give customers the power to choose what they invest in from C5K’s available range of investments selected for their positive impact. They also allow people to consolidate any other pensions they might have into one holding.
C5K was built by Tom McGillycuddy and Matt Latham after stints at Barclays and Wellington Management. Together, they set out to revolutionise investing and show a new generation that they can build wealth for themselves at the same time as contributing towards a better future for humanity and the planet.
The startup makes it simple for people to invest for the long term in markets that are beneficial for all – areas such as energy, water, food, health, education and cybersecurity. All of the investment opportunities share the same goal – to help people and the planet thrive for generations to come.
The new Personal Pensions offerings give customers more control over where their money goes and means investments only go into those businesses that are future-focused. This doesn’t just mean simply avoiding investments that are bad for humanity, it means actively investing in companies actively building a better future in ambits of supporting the planet and people.
Tom McGillycuddy, co-founder of C5K, said: “The generational appetite for meaningful investing is rising. The impact investing market grew by 42.2% last year to $715bn and millennials are twice as likely to put money into social or environmental investments than any other generation. Gen Z also views these areas as having the biggest investment potential.”
In its vision to provide investment opportunities for solutions at the cutting edge of global change, C5K itself become carbon neutral in 2020, offsetting double the amount of its carbon output. The company also launched a carbon offsetting subscription for its customers, giving people the power to the future of the planet into their own hands.
The company also works with OneTreePlanted.org, and together they plant a tree for every referral C5K receives from a user, helping to restore rainforests in Indonesia.
McGillycuddy also stated: “In our view, investing needs a serious correction. We’re changing the perception of investing from being looked at as activism’s latest fad, to a pursuit that is plain common sense: investing in things our future will appreciate.”
The new funding secured will be used to expand the investment app’s team, ramp up customer acquisition and bring even more new features and products.
