- Investors on private investment platform Seedrs pumped £40.1m into ClimateTech businesses, representing a 154% increase from 2021, with 58% more businesses raising from 37% more investors
- ClimateTech represented an investor haven as the international energy crisis and immediacy of climate change affected retail investor decisions
- Annual Seedrs Sector Report – which analysed over £500m in campaigns – unveils the industries that piqued investor interest in 2022, showing that ClimateTech thrived, Food & Beverage saw a slight uptick while Health & Wellness saw a nominal downturn
13th January 2023: Today, Seedrs – Europe’s leading private investment platform – launched its 2022 Sector Report which reveals the sectors that filled investors with conviction last year in the face of macroeconomic and geopolitical headwinds. The Report, which analysed more than 324 campaigns, found that ClimateTech thrived with investment growing 154% from £15.7m to £40.1m, with 58% more businesses raising from 37% more investors.
The Seedrs Report found that equity crowdfunding data reflected the global investment picture for ClimateTech, with 25% of all venture funding globally going into the sector this year according to PwC. The international energy crisis and the immediacy of the climate catastrophe may have been factors in driving investors to back businesses that are creating sustainable solutions such as making energy cleaner, more affordable and more accessible for consumers. Notable rounds included alumni business Ripple, a clean energy company, who raised £2.1m from its community and new venture Gazelle Wind Power, who raised over €3.8m.
Jeff Kelisky, Seedrs CEO & EVP Republic Retail said: “We see crowdfunding as playing a crucial role in the overall ClimateTech funding landscape and clean energy is a big part of this. The ensuing energy crisis has put alternative energy sources at the vanguard of politics and venture capital. As consumers become increasingly concerned with where their energy comes from, investors are looking to back businesses that are at the forefront of driving the transition to more accessible, affordable and greener sources. And at Seedrs we are uniquely positioned to democratise the opportunities to invest in these sorts of businesses and harness the belief of the crowd in the green revolution to fund impactful and scalable alternative energy solutions.”
Sarah Merrick, CEO, Ripple (a clean energy firm) commented: “This year demonstrated the significant benefits of moving away from fossil fuels towards clean energy. The energy price crisis, driven by war in Ukraine, has amplified the understanding that clean energy can be a cheap source of electricity and provide stable prices for climate conscious, price sensitive consumers. We build online communities of wind farm owners, so being funded by a community is a fantastic base to help us further our mission.”
In other sectors, investment in Food & Beverage remained stable and saw a 14% upturn from £92.2m to £105.1m with an increased number of business raising on the platform (78 up to 97). However, despite many innovative businesses raising with Seedrs, Health & Wellness saw an average drop of 15% in investment raised. Those that saw success in these sectors, such as Occuity, came as a result of realistic valuations, fundamental growth and demonstrable consumer benefits.
Jeff Kelisky, Seedrs CEO & EVP Republic Retail added: “There’s no denying that 2022 has been a year of obstacles. Rising inflation, volatile public markets, a looming global recession, the war in Ukraine, international energy crises and more have restricted post-pandemic recoveries. But, despite these significant headwinds, the Seedrs platform has continued to support some of the most innovative startups in Europe that are building the products and services that will shape the world of tomorrow.”
In 2022, Seedrs saw over 141,000 individual investments on its private investment platform, helping 324 campaigns raise over half a billion pounds, with 96 campaigns raising in excess of £1m. As a pan-European platform, Seedrs also helped businesses from 15 different countries raise capital and received investment from over 71 different countries. Highlights include CityFALCON which raised £1.6m, 800% over its target and Insurtech firm Cuvva which closed £4m from more than 3,000 investors.
This year, Seedrs has continued to evolve its Secondary Market, creating a truly world-leading product that extends the ability to buy, sell or trade secondary shares, allowing investors to sell shares to Seedrs’ wide investor network or their community of business customers and existing shareholders, and in some cases, sell via Seedrs Private Deal Room. As a result, 2022 has been a bumper year for the Secondary Market which, since its inception, has transacted over 57,000 trades worth nearly £22m and is now averaging just shy of £500,000 of trades per month.
Seedrs also continued to reshape the established VC industry dynamic by broadening access to highly selective Funds, enabling eligible investors to participate without meeting the sizable minimum LP investment thresholds typically required. From solo first time managers, to multi-million pound giants like Hambro Perks & SuperSeed, we gave more investors access to this strong-performing asset class, allowing them to diversify their portfolios and tap into the industry leading expertise that VCs provide.
