The London-based business provides a platform for ordinary people to provide early-stage funding for startups in return for equity, can now be accessed by entrepreneurs and “crowd” investors throughout Europe.
Seedrs has already raised £750,000, to help the expansion, in a new land speed crowfunding record in less than ten hours on its own platform. In return investors will receive a 12.66pc equity stake in the rapidly growing business. They are no allowing overfunding and it is still rolling in like a flood.
Everyone from ordinary investors to business angels who see the potential for equity crowdfunding to disrupt traditional financial services can now have a share of an industry that experts predict will be worth an estimated $300bn (£185bn, €220bn).
Jeff Lynn, chief executive and co-founder of Seedrs, said: “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 already has more than 25,000 registered members on its books, who can back businesses with as little as £10, and it has funded 48 deals in the 16 months since launch. While Seedrs has only been available to UK residents before today, the company has been growing at an annualised rate of more than 600%.
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 such as Kickstarter, in which funders receive products but not financial returns, Seedrs investors share in the potential success of the businesses and stand to make significant amounts of money if a business succeeds.
Mr Lynn said raising money to fund its expansion using its own platform “demonstrates our faith in the power of equity crowdfunding and our model.”
“We’re asking investors to back an exciting new way for people to take a stake in businesses they think are worthy of supporting – and to share in the upside if our vision of how successful and transformative crowdfunding can be proves correct.”
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.
