CROWDFUNDER LAUNCHES £500,000 EQUITY CROWDFUND CAMPAIGN TO TURN MORE GREAT IDEAS INTO REALITY

The UK’s No 1 rewards-based platform* is offering up to 10% equity in Crowdfunder.

Innovation charity Nesta are the first to pledge towards the Crowdfunder equity fundraise on Crowdcube with £150k provided to support the tech start-up.

Nesta, have previously provided grant funds towards Crowdfunder as an early stage partner and have supported the development of the organisation since 2012 through the Cabinet Office Innovation and Giving Fund.

Phil Geraghty, Managing Director of Crowdfunder said: “Things have been getting quite exciting here at Crowdfunder, we have recently been confirmed as the number one reward-based crowdfunding platform in the UK, and now we are launching our own equity crowdfunding campaign.

Crowdfunder makes a great investment because we are a digital high-growth business in a fast growing market, but also we are really proud of the social and economic impact that we are having across the whole of the UK. In particular, we welcome the support we have received from Nesta in helping us crowdfund the future.”

Crowdfunder has to date raised over £1.5 million for over 4,000 projects, ranging from businesses, charities, communities and social enterprises and grown by a factor of 15 in the last 12 months. A report from The Crowdfunding Centre this month revealed that Crowdfunder has more projects than all other UK platforms – challenging global giants Kickstarter and Indiegogo on UK soil.

Crowdfunder also has an Enterprise Accelerator Partnership with the enterprise university, Plymouth University.

Professor Wendy Purcell, Vice-Chancellor of Plymouth University, said: “The University would like to congratulate Crowdfunder on the launch of its campaign. This truly is enterprise in action, and as a founding partner, we’re thrilled to see their progress in becoming the UK’s leading crowdfunding platform, and the way they’re working in partnership with some of the UK’s leading innovation charities to create real socio-economic change. As a University with unparalleled involvement in the economic development work that is taking place across the region through GAIN and City Deal, we recognise the value of the funding stream they provide to help turn ideas into start-ups.”

The crowdfunding campaign has been launched on Crowdcube.com, the world’s leading equity crowdfunding platform and you can find out more here: http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/invest and you can pledge here: www.crowdcube.com/crowdfunder

**** Research from Nesta shows that rewards-based crowdfunding grew by 388% in the UK in 2013.