Victoria Maby of Envestors discusses the wider effects of Crowdfunding.

SmartWorking startup Abodoo is set to accelerate its UK expansion following a successful crowdfund. The Co. Wexford based business, on a mission to change the future of work by connecting global citizens with remote working job roles, overfunded its £100,000 target within 48 hours.

Abodoo connects professionals needing more flexibility in how they work with employers seeking top talent. The SaaS platform, which provides high accuracy hiring and reduced bias, currently works with clients includingVodafone, Deloitte, Citibank and Automattic to help grow more inclusive and diverse workforces. With 70% of technology employers experiencing a skills shortage – and this figure mirrored across other industries – accessing talent has become critical.  Abodoo has grown its candidate community of 22,000 members across 60 countries in just two years and this is set to reach 90,000 in the next year alone.

An international non-fiction book club aimed at open minded thinkers has not only reached, but exceeded its £100,000 crowdfunding target as they continue on their journey to grow the existing model and become the most exciting book club in the world. After successfully growing the club to 700 subscribing members across five European cities in their spare time, the founders are looking to take things to the next level.

Crowdcube has helped fuel the growth of three out of 16 of the UK’s active unicorns - or 19% of the herd. The three are BrewDog, Revolut and Monzo. Harnessing their customer-facing brands, the craft beer, money transfer and challenger bank have built huge campaigns with Crowdcube’s fundraising platform so customers could take a stake in the businesses. 

Crowdcube leads the UK market in crowdfunding. In the last 12 months, Crowdcube has fuelled the raises of 196 companies on its platform totalling £165.5m. Crowdcube has raised £552m for funded companies and had a total of £787m invested through the platform since it began in 2011.

Crowd2Fund has been formally granted their Advanced Assurance from HMRC for the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) tax relief. This means that now up to £12,000,000 can be invested into the growth of Crowd2Fund under the scheme, from private investors or specialist EIS funds. It is a tremendously generous scheme, through which investors receive excellent tax incentives for investing in businesses, like Crowd2Fund, who offer benefits to the wider economy.

In his latest article, James Murdoch looks in detail at The Seedrs Secondary Market (SM) and considers its significance investors in equity crowdfunding.

Snaffling Pig, the category leading porky snack brand, has reached its £750,000 crowdfund target in just seven days.  Hosted by Crowdcube, a total of 821 investors – or “Swine Diners” – have supported the campaign, in exchange for a 7% stake in the business. With a business plan to hit £20m sales in the next three years, a potential overfund will mean the team can bring forward their ambitious five year plan of £30m in sales. 

Crowdcube, the world’s leading equity crowdfunding platform, had several of its records smashed by fintech pioneer Curve, which raised £6 million in a mere 5 hours. A total of 9,591 people backed Curve, the highest number of investors in a raise on Crowdcube. The fundraise began at 10am UK time on Tuesday and just five minutes later, investors ploughed in £1 million, in the first of the record-breaking statistics that raised the bar for future campaigns.

Whilst most of us are no strangers to the concept of crowdfunding, what most people don’t know is how to create a successful campaign that hits your funding target! Founder and CEO of Tropicfeel, Alberto Espinos shares his wisdom. 

In his latest article for AngelNews, James Murdoch considers the challenges that Equity Crowdfunding investors face when trying to ascertain what represents a 'good valuation' for prospective investments.

In his latest article, James Murdoch discusses the importance of regular company reporting and post investment communication for equity crowdfunding investors.

In recent years, Alternative Finance funding channels that exist outside of the traditional finance system have revolutionised how small and medium enterprises are able to operate. The rapid growth of the Alternative Finance industry, in areas such as Crowdfunding, is making it increasingly less ‘alternative’, but where is this development seen the most?