Food and Beverage businesses have always been very well suited to crowdfunding. The business models and market trends are easy to understand and there have been success stories for crowdfunding investors – see, for example, our Alumni food and beverage companies Oppo Ice Cream and Mr Lee’s Noodles.
Food and beverage businesses, however, face a common challenge that most others don’t experience. They don’t have great access to customer data. Their products will be in some people’s shopping baskets weekly, and the snack or drink of choice for many others every day, but it’s very hard to track who these people are! This makes involving their community in a crowdfunding raise a challenge.
Here at Seedrs we’ve helped 15 food and beverage businesses fund in 2018, and we’ve already funded 10 halfway into 2019. This makes us a leading funder in Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) businesses across Europe in 2019! Even then, this is only the beginning of what can be achieved in the sector. With a little help in engaging their communities and the crowd, businesses can unlock the potential of their community as investors and brand ambassadors even without the best customer data.
This is why we launched our first FMCG Accelerator Programme dedicated to helping up to 10 UK-based FMCG businesses raise capital through equity crowdfunding.
Throughout the 7 week Programme, businesses will have the chance to hear all the tips directly from the entrepreneurs behind Seedrs successes like Manilife, Pollen + Grace and Coconuts Naturally as well as the industry experts within Seedrs.
Alongside that, we understand the main challenges founders face in their journey. Getting listings in major supermarkets, getting great articles in the press, building the perfect brand and accessing institutional capital from VCs are all essential to a brand’s overall success.
So we’ve enlisted a little help from some partners and friends! Businesses in the Programme will benefit from:
- Investors from JamJar, The Craftory and Omakase Investment Club ready to offer their advice in fundraising.
- A top industry journalist alongside our head of PR running a session on how to get noticed in the press.
- An opportunity to pitch to buyers from stockists like Waitrose, Asda and Sourced Market, whilst also learning what they look for and how to approach buyers.
- Brand advice from leading agency The Collaborators, creators of The Seed Fund.
- Advice on pretty much everything else from industry heavyweights Young Foodies.
We’re delighted to offer such a significant helping hand to the FMCG community, and we’re very proud of the 50+ companies we’ve already funded. We’re so proud, we’re after 10 more!
If you’re an ambitious FMCG business based in the UK find out more about our accelerator and how to apply on fmcg-accelerator.seedrs.com.
