Updated: 15 February 2018
In 2017 Seedrs funded more private companies than any other platform, retaining its crown as ‘The Most Active UK Funder of Private Companies’. And that’s according to data officially validated by research platform, Beauhurst. Their data also shows that Seedrs funded an impressive total of 165 deals across the UK and Europe. That’s 10% more than the nearest competitor.
While the above provides a topline view of the year’s activity, the information that really matters for entrepreneurs who are looking at which crowdfunding platform to use, is the detail. Let’s take a deeper look at the data for 2017.
- Seedrs had a market-dominating success rate of 74%, compared to the nearest competitor at only 51%. That’s a staggering 45% higher chance of funding on Seedrs, according data on Beauhurst and information published by the nearest competitor.
- 24 £1m+ deals were funded on Seedrs in 2017. More importantly, the average raise size of £1m+ deals on Seedrs was £2.2m, compared to only £1.5m for the nearest competitor.
- 4 out of the 5 largest equity crowdfunding rounds in 2017 were funded on Seedrs, and 6 out of the top 10.
- Seedrs set the record for the largest equity crowdfunding round in 2017 with Revolut raising £3.9m, not including our own record-setting £6m crowdfunding round.
- Seedrs funded 19 deals in Europe with over £12.5m invested into European campaigns from more than 6,000 investors.
- Seedrs also set the record for the largest equity crowdfunding campaign in the Netherlands, with Bolt Mobility who raised €3.2m from 2,393 investors.
Delivering the big rounds in 2017
Momentum for Seedrs started early in 2017 with a number of successful £1m+ rounds before the end Q1:
- Innovative golf technology platform VPAR, raised £1.2m from 346 investors.
- Andy Murray and Branson-backed plastic roads company MacRebur, raised £1.3m from 1,032 investors.
- Seedrs alumni and proptech business Landbay, raised £2.4m from 159 investors.
- Smart home technology startup, Den, returned to Seedrs to raise £2.2m from 1,276 investors.
Highlighting our continued momentum, the second half of 2017 saw Seedrs raise an impressive £10m more than our main competitor’s platform, with £60.9m of investment into 92 funded deals. Whilst overall in 2017 Seedrs had slightly less investment than them.
Standout campaigns in the second half of the year include:
- AI-enabled financial butler Plum, which raised just under £1m from 965 investors in July.
- Challenger bank Revolut, raised its cap of £3.9m from 4,260 investors in August as part of their £50m Series B round led by Index Ventures.
- Named the ‘Dutch Tesla on two wheels’, automotive tech startup Bolt raised €3.2m from 2,393 in September.
- Leading London-based fintech CommuterClub, went on to raise £2.5m from 420 investors in October.
The platform for the entire journey
Seedrs is a full lifecycle platform, making us the natural choice for entrepreneurs who’re looking for a long-term funding partner, not just a transactional platform. In fact, the number of Seedrs Alumni in 2017 who returned to successfully raise further funding with us illustrates this long-term relationship:
- 24 Seedrs Alumni returned to run full public crowdfunding campaigns with £14.6m invested into those campaigns from existing and new investors.
- 13 Seedrs Alumni returned and chose to run private crowdfunding campaigns with existing investors, their community, Seedrs Leedrs Club and the exclusive Seedrs Anchor Investor Service, with £16m being invested into those campaigns.
Data from Beauhurst shows that on average a business conducts 3 funding rounds before a successful exit. That’s why it’s so important to ensure you have the right funding partner for the journey who you can trust, and more importantly, support you in raising the funds you need.
Clarifying a couple of common questions
Important questions we often get asked in relation to investment activity are, “What’s the difference between ‘invested in campaigns and pledged in pitches’?” and “What’s ‘investment raised?”. Both are important to understand, so let’s explore the differences:
- The difference between ‘pledged in pitches’ and ‘invested into campaigns’. Most competitor platforms only offer the opportunity to ‘pledge in pitches’, whilst Seedrs can take the payment when an investor makes the investment into a campaign. Seedrs then holds those funds, ready to transfer to the business. Why is this important? The amount invested is the actual amount received, and there’s no need to spend weeks or months chasing investors for funds that you may never get. Seedrs itself transfers all the funds to the business in one payment. So, whilst other platforms use ‘pledged in pitches’ for legitimate reasons, Seedrs uses the term ‘invested into campaigns’ as we hold the actual funds. In 2017 Seedrs had £125m invested into campaigns.
- What’s ‘investment raised’? This is the actual amount funded into companies once a deal is completed. The amount may differ from ‘invested into campaigns’ as a business may not reach its funding target, or the business may choose to accept all, some or none of any overfunding of their funding target. In 2017 Seedrs had £84.2m investment raised into funded deals on the platform.
We hope the above provides entrepreneurs with the full and transparent information they need to select the right platform to raise investment.
If you’re looking for a long-term funding partner, that supports you through your funding needs over the life of your business, contact our team today at [email protected].
