Tennis champion and world number two Andy Murray has identified and back five, very different businesses on Seedrs; investing undisclosed amounts into each. He plans to make further investments on the platform across 2016, as part of his strategic relationship with Seedrs.
“Giving recognition and support to British entrepreneurs is important to me,” said Andy “especially those who are the driving force behind growth-focused businesses.”
His investments include The Guardian’s Start-up of the Year 2014, Oppo Ice Cream; FinTech50 2015 member, annual travel ticket subscription service CommuterClub; the UK’s fastest growing P2P lender, Landbay, which recently announced a partnership with Zoopla; We are Colony, a global film streaming platform founded by BAFTA-winning filmmaker Sarah Tierney; and Readbug, the ‘Netflix for Magazines’.
“Every one of these entrepreneurs is inspirational and dedicated to their business” Andy said. “I’m excited to have invested in their team’s vision and work ethic.”
Oppo Ice Cream successfully raised over £390,000 in just over a week on Seedrs, far exceeding its fundraising target of £150,000 within just four hours of going live. Oppo is on a mission to prove that health and indulgence can go hand in hand; guilt-free luxury ice cream with fewer calories than an apple is just the start.
CommuterClub, described as one of ‘the hottest FinTechs in Europe’, raised £1,200,000 against its £650,000 target. CommuterClub helps commuters save time and money by offering season tickets as a subscription service.
Landbay, who recently announced a strategic investment from Zoopla, is back for its fifth Seedrs raise since December 2013. The proptech lender focuses on prime residential mortgages and is now the UK’s fastest growing peer-to-peer platform. They have raised over £1.6m in their current round.
We Are Colony, a global film-streaming platform, is currently raising £500,000 and surpassed 70% of its target in just a fortnight. The site creates beautiful special edition bundles of quality films with exclusive extras, such as interviews, deleted scenes, stills, scripts and more. The brand only launched publicly in Spring 2015 but already has registered account holders in 115 countries.
Andy’s final investment was into Readbug, having missed out on its first funding round in May 2014 when it exceeded its funding target. Readbug raised nearly £70,000 this round, in just a fortnight. Readbug offers a curated selection of independent magazines all in one app, and is on a mission to change the way digital magazines are consumed.
Andy said, “It’s been an exciting start to 2016 for me, for many reasons. To see Seedrs reach £100 million on the platform and so many ambitious and dynamic businesses currently fundraising, means it’s a great start to 2016 for them as well.”
Jeff Lynn, CEO and co-founder of Seedrs, said, “It’s great to see Andy supporting British entrepreneurs so actively on Seedrs by investing in their businesses. Seedrs is now the most active seed-stage equity investor in the UK, and our continued growth and leading position in the market are testament to our reputation and the support from people like Andy.”
