Crowdcube and Seedrs plan to merge to create one of the world’s largest private equity marketplaces

OCT 05, 2020

BY BALDERTON

The two fintech pioneers have agreed to join forces to take on the UK’s £12bn equity funding market.

The move will enable thousands of ambitious fast-growth businesses and millions of investors will be able to benefit from the best expertise, services and returns offered by Crowdcube’s and Seedrs’ investment platforms.

Balderton first invested in Crowdcube in July 2014. 

On completion, Jeff Kelisky, Seedrs’ CEO, will serve as CEO of the combined company, and Darren Westlake, CEO and co-founder of Crowdcube, will serve as Executive Chairman. The management team will include key leaders from both businesses.

The combined company will aim to deliver new innovations and products that will make it significantly easier, more affordable and valuable for ambitious businesses to raise growth finance, and investors will have an even greater selection of investment opportunities with richer investment tools.

Crowdcube co-founders Darren Westlake and Luke Lang

Equity crowdfunding has redefined how many ambitious businesses raise investment and engage with their customers. Today’s agreement is an incredibly exciting milestone that will benefit high growth businesses, their investors who believe in their vision and the wider entrepreneurial ecosystem that supports them. Together with Seedrs, we can accelerate plans to further expand in the UK and overseas, launch innovative new products and improve our customers’ experience.

Darren Westlake, CEO and co-founder of Crowdcube

As the two leading investment platforms, both companies have played a key role in Europe’s fast growing equity funding ecosystem, both through the success of primary raises through crowdfunding and the scaling of secondary offerings and wider marketplace initiatives.

Since 2011, £2B has been invested in Crowdcube & Seedrs campaigns

Since 2011, £2 billion has been invested in campaigns on Crowdcube and Seedrs. Together they have helped more than 1500 companies secure investment, including BrewDog, Revolut, Perkbox, and in the last 6 months, they have both seen significant milestones reached such as Crowdcube’s campaigns with what3words and Moneybox, two of the most popular equity crowdfunding campaigns ever, and over £1 million of private company shares traded in a single month on the Seedrs secondary market.

We are both fintech pioneers that have challenged the landscape of capital raising in Europe, building marketplaces for private equity investment. We believe that you need to be a player of greater scale to serve companies and the investors who support them. Now is the right time to bring our strengths together, in order to meet our common mission to deliver a step change in the accessibility and efficiency of private company investing.

Jeff Kelisky, CEO of Seedrs

The merger will be structured as an acquisition by Crowdcube of all of the outstanding share capital of Seedrs Limited via scheme of arrangement. Existing Crowdcube shareholders and option holders will own 60% of the combined company, and existing Seedrs shareholders and option holders will own 40% of the combined company. The merger ratio reflects the approximate valuations of the two companies based on each of their most recent fundraising rounds.

As we look to the future, we’ll be well positioned to build on our combined strengths and create a powerful global private equity marketplace that will transform the ecosystem of equity finance globally.

Jeff Kelisky, CEO of Seedrs

Read more on the Crowdcube website

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