Surprising in that it is but a year removed from launch, SyndicateRoom has today been named the most rapidly expanding equity-based platform in the UK. This news comes courtesy of research from Knowledge Peers – which provides data-based insight into the alternative finance space. Knowledge Peers reports a 200% increase in the equity finance raised via the SyndicateRoom platform over the past six months. The market growth rate for the equity space as a whole stands at 95% – increasing from £21 million to £41 million between November 2013 and April 2014.
Tania Ziegler, Programme Manager at Knowledge Peers, explained:
“Since the end of 2013, the cumulative growth of funding executed by equity crowdfunding platforms in the UK has just about doubled, showing an increase of 97%. One player, SyndicateRoom, has proven that the industry standard is just not fast enough for them! As a quickly growing platform, SyndicateRoom has increased by a staggering 203% against the same time-frame. This makes this equity platform the fastest growing platform in the space and within the top five platforms in terms of scale, according to our data.”
SyndicateRoom is distinct from the other players in this space in that the “crowd” invest alongside business angels that have already committed funds to a project. Indeed, no project can be listed on the SR platform without first having secured the backing of professional investors. The involvement of such investors is designed to lend credibility to a particular project – the idea being that if a number of business angels get behind a proposition, it is probably an attractive one.
Goncalo de Vasconcelos, CEO of SyndicateRoom, commented:
“We are delighted to hear that we’re currently the fastest growing platform in the equity crowdfunding space; especially since this industry is growing so fast in itself. We have been working tirelessly to build a platform that works both for investors – who for the first time ever are given the opportunity to gain access to real angel investments – and entrepreneurs, who are able to close funding rounds quickly and efficiently through our platform. Here’s to the next six months!”
Perhaps more impressive even than its rapid growth rate, 90% of the deals listed on the SyndicateRoom platform over the past six months have been successfully funded. This success rate far outstrips the industry standard of 59%. The platform has now funneled over £6 million into startups – and is fast becoming one of the major operators in the equity crowdfunding space.
