Crowdcube Explained

Crowdcube
Location City:Exeter
Location Country:United Kingdom
Commercial:Yes
Type:Crowdfunding Corporate finance Equity (finance)
Industry:Finance
Launch Date:February 2011
Founder:Darren Westlake and Luke Lang
Key People:Simon Williams (Chairman)
Darren Westlake (CEO)

Crowdcube is a British investment crowdfunding platform, established by Darren Westlake and Luke Lang in 2011.[1]

Model

Equity-based crowdfunding is a new fundraising model for entrepreneurs. Individuals' investments are pooled, allowing entrepreneurs to secure funding directly from the general public and bypass business "angel" investors and banks.[2] The key principle of this model is that anyone can invest money in return for equity in a business. Entrepreneurs, with a UK registered company, can present their business and its investment potential to potential micro-investors by uploading a Dragons' Den-style video pitch, images, and supporting documents. The minimum investment can be as little as £10.

Crowdcube operates on the "all or nothing" model. When a pitch reaches its investment target, the business receives the funding raised. If it does not, no funds are taken from investors. A commission is charged on successful funding campaigns.

The platform uses social media to a large extent to alert potential investors about an offering. In March 2015, the Financial Conduct Authority released new guidance on the use of social media to promote financial products to ensure that all communications are clear, fair, and not misleading.[3]

Crowdfunding as a model for fundraising has become more popular over the past few years with the rise of the US-based Kickstarter and Indiegogo. These platforms differ from Crowdcube as they work on a donation and reward-based model where the donor receives a product or service in return for their donation.[4]

On 12 November 2018, Crowdcube introduced a new investor fee that charges investors for investing on the platform, 1.5% of the total investment, added on when the investment is collected. This fee is capped at £250.[5] The fee was met with some backlash within the Crowdcube community, particularly as it was introduced just before Crowdcube's own raise went live and pre-arranged venture capitalists were exempt. It was also criticised for posting the news of the fees within the FAQs, rather than emailing all the investors.[6] [7]

Regulation

In February 2013, Crowdcube received authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to offer investors the opportunity to become direct legal shareholders in UK businesses.[8]

Successful exits

In July 2015, E-Car Club, an electric vehicle rental business championing the future of the green sharing economy, produced the first exit from the CrowdCube 'Funded Club'.[9] E-Car received a significant investment from Europcar, Europe's largest vehicle rental business.[10] E-Car club has joined the newly formed Europcar Labs project, which has been set up by CEO Philippe Germond to focus on 'mobility solutions'.[11] This is Europcar's first acquisition since its IPO on the Euronext in early June 2015.[12]

In December 2015, it was announced that Camden Town Brewery was being bought by the world's largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev. In a letter to Crowdcube shareholders, AB InBev were offering a payout of between £1.0861 and £1.2526 per share,[13] depending on whether they accept an option with a variable element based on sales growth to be paid at a later date. Reports said this was a nominal return on investment of just under 70%, implying that AB InBev paid around £85 million.[14]

In 2019 Parcel2Go, who had raised funds on Crowdcube in 2017, was subject to a management buyout backed by Mayfair Equity Partners.[15]

Funded campaigns

Equity

Some examples of companies that have acquired funding using this method are:

Business Amount raised No. of investors Equity released Date
Freetrade£8,890,4687,1701.353%November 2021[16]
Cornish Lithium£5,999,9951,0126.81%June 2021[17]
Sunswap£501,34878821.18%January 2021[18]
Sliabh Liag Distillers£2,265,9101,15813.61%September 2020[19]
Belluscura£538,1403029.6%April 2019[20]
Monzo£20,000,00036,0062.04%December 2018[21]
Recruitive£1,170,00038154.64%March 2018[22]
Manigo£510,63035514.33%January 2018[23]
Parcel2Go£1,057,7301,3082.58%November 2017[24]
Kar-go£321,72028115.11%July 2017[25]
£1,007,050 433 2.39% September 2016[26]
Movem £200,000 116 20% September 2016[27]
GoHenry £3,994,980 2,372 15.98% June 2016[28]
£3,433,010 1,300 8.72% December 2015[29]
£2,149,355 552 5.89% June 2015[30]
£3,700,000 2,919 15.61% March 2015[31]
Open Desk £310,010 171 18.59% June 2014[32]
SilkFred £145,610 71 24.27% 2014[33]
£1,574,590 259 28.17% May 2014[34]
Crowdfunder £500,000 - 10% April 2014[35]
Zero Carbon Foods £659,480 454 29.04% March 2014[36]
Hab Housing £1,972,150 642 26.29% September 2014[37]
E-Car Club £100,00063 20% December 2012[38]

Bonds

Bonds allow members of the public to lend money to the issuing company in return for interest and/or rewards. Mini-bonds have "particular appeal for established businesses".[39] In June 2014, Chilango launched Crowdcube's first mini-bond campaign. Since then, several other businesses have launched mini-bond offerings via the Crowdcube platform. Some of the businesses that have funded bonds via Crowdcube include:

Company Amount raised No. of investors Interest paid Date
Brew Dog£2,312,000 815 6.5% Oct 2015[40]
£1,805,000 493 8% Jan 2015[41]
£1,500,000 355 6% October 2014[42]
£1,000,000 285 7% June 2014[43]
Chilango £2,035,000 347 8% June 2014[44]

Events

Caterham F1

In November 2014, Crowdcube partnered with Caterham F1 to raise £2.35 million to fund the team for the final Grand Prix of the season in Abu Dhabi.[45] Designed to empower F1 fans to help Caterham return to racing, the project was successfully completed on 14 November,[46] with Caterham F1 finishing in 17th place with Grand Prix newcomer Will Stevens.[47] Caterham F1 went bankrupt in 2015.[48]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Crowdcube Nesta. www.nesta.org.uk. en. 2017-10-16.
  2. News: On the side of Angels - New ways of lending to small businesses. 4 July 2012. The Economist. 25 February 2012.
  3. Norman, Tessa. "FCA social media rules create retweets 'minefield'" Money Marketing, March 2015.
  4. News: Capital crowdfunders help you beat smart elite. 12 July 2012. The Metro. 3 April 2012.
  5. Web site: What are the fees for investing on the platform?. Help Centre.
  6. Web site: Join and Start Investing Today . Crowdcube . 2020-03-23.
  7. Web site: Join and Start Investing Today . Crowdcube . 2020-03-23.
  8. News: British regulator okays start-up investment website for public. Reuters . 4 February 2013.
  9. Web site: Avi Geller . Europcar's acquisition of E-Car Club 'world's first successful crowdfunding exit' . Growthbusiness.co.uk . 21 April 2016.
  10. Web site: The Europcar Lab takes majority stake in E-Car Club . E-carclub.org . 21 April 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001427/http://www.e-carclub.org/assets/Europcar/Press-Release-Europcar-Lab-takes-majority-stake-in-E-Car-Club.pdf . 4 March 2016 . dmy-all .
  11. Web site: Andy Sharman in London . Europcar plans Paris IPO to fund push into 'mobility solutions' . Financial Times . 15 June 2015 . 21 April 2016.
  12. Web site: Resounding success of Europcar's listing on . Euronext.com . 26 June 2015 . 21 April 2016.
  13. News: FT Alphaville. 22 December 2015. 21 December 2015. Here's Camden Town Brewery's letter to shareholders about the AB InBev takeover.
  14. News: Davies. Rob. Camden Town Brewery sold to world's biggest drinks company. 22 December 2015. The Guardian. 21 December 2015.
  15. Web site: Mayfair to become majority shareholder in Parcel2Go. 4 December 2019.
  16. Web site: Freetrade . Crowdcube . 9 December 2021.
  17. Web site: Sunswap . Crowdcube . 21 June 2021.
  18. Web site: Sunswap . Crowdcube . 7 February 2021.
  19. Web site: Sliabh Liag Distillers . Crowdcube . 27 October 2020.
  20. Web site: Belluscura plc . Crowdcube . 10 February 2020.
  21. Web site: MONZO HAS RAISED £20M IN LATEST FUNDING ROUND. Crowdcube. en-GB. 11 April 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190411211454/https://www.crowdcube.com/explore/monzo-crowdfunding-round. 11 April 2019. dead.
  22. Web site: Recruitive Software. Crowdcube. en-GB. 18 May 2020.
  23. Web site: Manigo Services Ltd. Crowdcube. en-GB. 3 October 2018.
  24. Web site: Parcel2go.com. Crowdcube. en-GB. 3 October 2018.
  25. Web site: Academy of Robotics raising £300,000 investment on Crowdcube. Capital at Risk.. Crowdcube. en-GB. 2016-06-06. 25 October 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171025075131/https://www.crowdcube.com/companies/academy-of-robotics-limited. dead.
  26. Web site: Meet the UK equity crowdfunding success stories of 2016 . startups.co.uk . 7 October 2018.
  27. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisoncoleman/2016/09/14/crowdfunding-why-startups-are-ignoring-the-risks-and-betting-the-farm/ "Forbes - Why start ups are ignoring the risks"
  28. Web site: Meet the UK equity crowdfunding success stories of 2016 . startups.co.uk . 7 October 2018.
  29. http://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2015/12/78131-chilango-closes-funding-on-crowdcube-at-3-4-million-will-open-50-new-locations/ "Chilango Closes Funding on Crowdcube at £3.4 Million. Will Open 50 New Locations"
  30. http://www.bmmagazine.co.uk/get-funded/success-stories/job-search-site-adzuna-raises-1-5m-via-crowdcube-to-get-britain-working/ "Job search site Adzuna Raises 1.5m via Crowdcube to get Britain Working"
  31. http://techcitynews.com/2015/03/17/justpark-bags-3-7m-and-becomes-uks-largest-equity-crowdfunded-startup/ "JustPark becomes UK's largest equity crowdfunded start-up"
  32. http://westminster.impacthub.net/2014/06/20/impact-hub-westminsters-first-crowdfunding-venture-opendesk-raise-150k-in-12-hours/ "OpenDesk raise £150,000 in 12 hours"
  33. Web site: SilkFred Ltd raised £120,000 investment - Oct 2013.. Crowdcube.
  34. http://www.ukbusinessangelsassociation.org.uk/news/lovespace-hits-%C2%A316m-crowdcube-shazam-venture-capital-firm-adds-%C2%A3250k-to-funding-pot "LoveSpace hits £1.6m as Shazam Venture Capital firm adds £250,000 to funding pot"
  35. http://startups.co.uk/reward-based-crowdfunding-platform-crowdfunder-secures-500000-target-in-just-over-three-hours/ "Reward-based crowdfunding platform secures £500,000 target in just over three hours"
  36. http://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2014/04/35474-growing-tube-141-funding-zero-carbon-foods-crowdcube-campaign/ "Growing under the Tube: 141% Funding for Zero Carbon Food’s Crowdcube Campaign"
  37. http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/news/1214132/kevin-mccloud-hit-crowdcube/ "Kevin McCloud is a hit with the Crowd(cube)"
  38. Web site: E-Car Club Ltd . Crowdcube . 7 October 2018.
  39. Bridge. Rachel, "Soapbox: Established businesses should consider using crowdfunding too, says Adam Blaskey" Telegraph, December 2014.
  40. Web site: BrewDog Bond raising investment on Crowdcube. Capital at Risk . Crowdcube.com . 21 April 2016.
  41. http://startups.co.uk/niche-coffee-house-chain-taylor-st-baristas-secures-1-8m-crowdcube-mini-bond/ "Niche coffee house chain Taylor St Baristas secures £1.8m Crowdcube mini-bond"
  42. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-29587770/ "Eden Project crowdfunding raises £1.5m in 20 hours"
  43. http://realbusiness.co.uk/article/26990-fearnley-whittingstalls-river-cottage-raises-1m-through-mini-bonds/ "Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage raises £1m through mini bonds"
  44. https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevorclawson/2014/08/28/will-chilangos-2m-success-herald-an-affordable-mini-bond-revolution/ "Will Chilango's £2m Success Herald An Affordable Mini Bond Revolution?"
  45. Web site: Wise . Mike . Caterham launch crowdfunding project to fund team's return for the Abu Dhabi GP | F1 News . Skysports.com . 21 April 2016.
  46. Web site: Strickland . Jamie . Caterham to race in Abu Dhabi finale after fundraising success . . 14 November 2014 . 21 April 2016.
  47. Web site: Past Results - Abu Dhabi Grand Prix . Skysports.com . 21 April 2016.
  48. Web site: Caterham hopes fade as team's remaining assets go up for sale . BBC . 13 April 2016.