Next wave equity crowdfunder CoInvestor closes £1.1m pre-series A round.
CoInvestor, the equity crowdfunding platform that allows individual investors to back companies alongside fund managers, has clinched £1.1m in equity funding, just six months removed from launch. The pre-series A funding round was 60 per cent funded by existing shareholders. The investment came from a mixture of individual and corporate investors.
As part of the fundraise, Ian Peacock, Head of UK and Ireland at IG Group, joins CoInvestor’s advisory board, where he joins Sanlam (UK) group CEO Jonathan Polin.
The money will be used to hire new staff and to develop new products. These will include CoAdvisor, a new white-label digital solution for wealth managers looking for easy-to-access advice on alternative assets investments.
“We’re delighted to see the support we have from existing and new investors in our first year of operations, and to have secured additional capital to fuel our future growth and development of new product offerings,” said Charles Owen (pictured above), founder of CoInvestor.
CoInvestor is part of a small cadre of early-stage equity crowdfunders that have each sought, in their own way, to refine the startup funding model that was pioneered by the likes of Crowdcube and Seedrs. These include VentureFounders, Growthdeck, and ShadowFoundr. Strict standards of due diligence are often touted by these new entrants as a key differentiator.
For CoInvestor, with its follow-on investment model, the burden of due diligence falls squarely on experienced EIS fund managers – which individual investors then participate alongside, from as little as £5k. The platform is not dissimilar in structure to SyndicateRoom, except that investors are following investment firms, rather than angel investors.
“I’m excited to have the opportunity to advise a rapidly growing business that is instigating real change within the traditional investment landscape,” said the newly appointed Ian Peacock. “CoInvestor is uniquely positioned to help fund managers and advisors connect with savvy investors who are increasingly seeking diversification of their portfolios through alternative assets”.
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