Jeff Lynn is the Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Seedrs, Europe’s largest and most active equity crowdfunding platform. Jeff is a huge advocate for the value that small businesses can create in the “innovation economy” and speaks in depth about how he has gone about helping startups and scaleups acquire the most precious resource when looking to grow – cash.
Before Seedrs, the process of raising investment for a startup was inefficient, opaque, and exclusive.
While for most people, the notion of investing in a startup was an inaccessible pipe dream.
Only venture capitalists, or those with access to large amounts of money, would have the opportunity to invest and reap the benefits. Seedrs was built in 2012 to change that. Seedrs’ aim is that investors of all kinds, from small retail investors to large institutions, are provided with an-to-use platform to find, invest in, and support startups and high-growth private businesses, building a diverse portfolio in the process.
For entrepreneurs, Jeff knew that crowdfunding was more than just raising capital, it was about founders bringing their community, along with our diverse range of investors, along with them on the journey ahead:
“[This is a different way] for entrepreneurs to raise capital, to leverage the power of their communities, and to be able to go out not just to one or two rich uncles, but to hundreds if not thousands of friends, fans, potential customers, existing customers and other supporters to raise small amounts… The amount of talent in this country, in Europe and globally, far exceeds the number of entrepreneurs who are getting funded today, and with more capital and more efficient ways of funding these entrepreneurs, there would be a huge growth in innovation and a huge growth in the number of great businesses being built”
Together with co-founder Carlos Silva, the pair completed their MBAs at Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford, and received their first £25,000 in investment from Carlos’ landlord, a former tech executive. Prior to Seedrs, Jeff had previously been an SEC lawyer and Carlos, a technical professional based in Portugal. Together, and with the support of an amazing team, they’ve helped fund over 800 businesses and seen over £1.5 billion invested on the platform.
In Seedrs’ very first episode of our new podcast show, Go Fund Yourself, we sit down with Jeff Lynn to learn about the journey of Seedrs right from the beginning. The topics we discuss:
- How Jeff and his co-founder recognised a problem in the market and solved it
- Diversifying beyond Seedrs original business model, including creating one of the world’s most active Secondary Markets for startup shares
- The impact of COVID-19 on Seedrs and the wider startup ecosystem around Europe
- What led Jeff to stepping down as a CEO and how he transition into a new role at Seedrs (which you can read more about here)
- Pivoting strategy after the CMA rejected a proposed merger
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts.
Listen to the episode on Spotify.
Listen to the episode on Anchor.
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