Electric vehicle charge-point maker, Pod Point, which raised funds three times on Crowdcube, has announced it has been acquired by energy company, EDF. Pod Point successfully raised £3.71m with Crowdcube in 2015, 2016 and 2017, with its vision of a world where travel doesn’t damage the earth 1,428 people were inspired to invest. 

The sale to EDF tops AB InBev’s £85m acquisition of Camden Town Brewery, which had raised on Crowdcube in 2015.

Crowdcube, Europe’s leading crowdfunding platform, has achieved its eighth record-breaking quarter in a row, as revenue for 2019 surpasses the £8m watershed for the first time. Revenue is up 36% year-on-year, climbing to £8.22m, with a record 220 campaigns funded, up from 198 in 2018.

Crowdcube saw 41 campaigns raising over £1m in 2019, with JustPark, Freetrade, Curve and carwow each raising £5m or more. Curve, carwow, Chip and Freetrade jointly welcomed over 30,000 new shareholders. A trend towards larger funding rounds has been spurred by entrepreneurs understanding the benefits of engaging their customers and communities by inviting them to become shareholders through Crowdcube.

James Murdoch considers whether Accelerator/Incubator Funds are a good option for crowdfunding investors.

Cowboy, the design driven electric bike company, has hit an impressive £3.7 million with four days of its crowdfunding still to go. The maker of the world’s best connected e-bike has funded 308% of its original target of £1.2m which was reached in just 12 minutes, making it Crowdcube’s most successful cleantech campaign. 

Young British SaaS company Cyclr has announced £0.5million of new investment, led by Juno Capital. The investment round also includes capital from SyndicateRoom and existing shareholders.

Crowdcube is announcing a record-breaking year for overseas businesses raising funds on Europe’s leading equity crowdfunding platform. Despite Brexit uncertainty, investment into businesses based outside the UK has doubled since 2018. 

In 2019, Crowdcube’s overseas raises drew in €26.6m, which marked a massive 100% hike from 2018. ID Finance, a Spanish based fintech, scoops the No. 1 place in terms of investment raised, pulling in €5.2m in November. More than 4,500 people also backed Bnext, the Spanish challenger-bank, which stands in second place. European entrepreneurs are matching their British counterparts in terms of investment raised and number of investors they attract, as they realise the benefits of building loyal communities alongside raising growth finance.

OurCrowd, the global venture investing platform and Israel’s leading venture investor, has announced that it is part of a consortium that has won a tender to run a start-up incubator in New Zealand. This represents the first time that OurCrowd has participated and won an international tender of this kind, and reflects the growing international focus of the Israel based investment platform.

Women-led companies have more success with Crowdcube’s crowdfunding platform than with any other method of equity financing. Out  of 760 UK start-up or growth companies that have funded on Crowdcube, 24% are founded by women. Female founders have driven 216 UK-led successful raises on Crowdcube, which have collectively raised £107m, since the company began in 2011.

Linton Hydro Ltd has successfully raised £3.3 million through the Triodos impact investment crowdfunding platform from both retail and institutional investors.

James Murdoch looks into his own portfolio and ponders the falling number of SEIS opportortunites compared to EIS investments. 

Snaffling Pig, the UK’s leading pork-based snack business, has received investment from multiple Henley Business Angels members, who contributed to a record breaking funding round of over £1.1m.

Chosen as one of the Thames Valley 50 Game Changers in 2018, Snaffling Pig produces a wide range of pork snack products, including flavoured pork crackling sold in traditional foil bags, gift jars and advent calendars, as well as a variety of sauces, beers, nuts, and additional food goods ideal for gifts. The products are supplied into some of the UK’s leading supermarkets, such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, The Co-operative, John Lewis and Selfridges. Over 2,000 pubs, including Greene King and Punch Taverns among others, are also supplied with its products.

My first six articles looked at my experience of investing in individual companies; one of the conclusions I had come to was that, at least for the passive investor, the right strategy is to diversify the portfolio but that managing too many start-up investments can be onerous. Investing in a fund campaign allows you to invest in multiple businesses with one click of a button. Problem solved?