Before yesterday, UK equity crowdfunding platform Crowdcube had raised more than £173m from over 295,000 investors to complete 426 successful raises, and described itself as the world’s leading investment crowdfunding platform.
Yesterday afternoon that status was confirmed as Crowdcube exceeded its £5m target when they raised £5,003,024 for themselves from 1,627 pre-registered early investors useful source. This was their largest ever raise, and in the early hours of 19 July the total stands at just over £5.8m from 2,243 investors and they are still open for further business.
This initial target of £5m was set against 7.14% equity, valuing Crowdcube at just over £70m. Very handy for the co-founders Darren Westlake and Luke Lang – well done guys. A stretch target for over-funding could see up to a total of £12m raised.
Fundraising moves to Stage 2 today (July 19) when Crowdcube will open their doors to investments from the general public who will no doubt be suitably buoyed by yesterday’s strong performance.
In total, would-be investors apparently indicated an early interest in buying £50m of shares in the company. Crowdcube is believed to be setting up a secondary market where successful purchasers will be able to trade their newly acquired shares. If they do, then given that demand appears to exceed supply by a factor of over four there could be some early ‘stag market’ sales to deliver quick returns. So much for Brexit reducing enthusiasm for equity crowdfunding.