World number one tennis champion Andy Murray continues to back early-stage businesses in 2017 today investing into ambitious British companies Den and Morpher as well as exercising pre-emption rights in Landbay’s latest equity round.
Den, is a revolutionary smart home system that looks like a normal switch but will alert you if your leave the TV on, could warn you if your Nan’s in trouble and could help reduce your energy bills. The company has now raised over £2.1 million on Seedrs (when investing, capital is at risk) from over 1,150 investors overfunding to 219% in this round.
Morpher is the world’s first flat folding helmet. Morpher folds and unfolds quickly and simply, so it’s perfect for cyclists who want to carry a helmet more easily. The startup has now raised over £659,000 from almost 400 investors on Seedrs (when investing, capital is at risk). The innovative product was invented by two times British Inventor of the Year, Jeff Woolf, for the 83% of cyclists who don’t wear a helmet because they are too cumbersome to carry. They successfully raised over $400,000 in 2013 in an initial rewards based crowdfunding round on Indiegogo.
Landbay, the Zoopla-backed marketplace lender that provides finance to the UK’s private rented sector has so far raised £2.3 million overfunding to 157% in a private pre-emption round only open to existing investors. Landbay direct-matches investors’ money to mortgages using the resource and capital efficiency of peer-to-peer and with a world-class track record, was one of the very first peer-to-peer platforms to be granted full authorisation by the FCA at the end of 2016.
Murray said about the investments, “Den is exactly the kind of innovative smart technology households around the globe will utilise in the future, and Morpher is a product that the modern cyclist should own – one that has been dutifully perfected by an award winning inventor. Investing in both of these start-ups allows me to continue to build my portfolio whilst diversifying. I also invested in Landbay for a second time, exercising my pre-emption rights. The future for the company looks good and I’m pleased to be able to maintain my shareholding as the company grows.”
Thomas Davies, Chief Investment officer of Seedrs, said: “We are delighted that Andy continues to be so active in early-stage investment and his recent investments on Seedrs into Den and Morpher reaffirm this. More exciting still is to see Andy taking advantage of the pre-emption rights our nominee structure facilitates with his first follow-on investment into Landbay. With our recent announcement of the upcoming launch of the Seedrs Secondary Market, Andy will also be given the opportunity to sell some of his shares and realise returns.”
