Seedrs surpasses £1bn in total investments
Seedrs has surpassed £1bn in total investments, which includes tens of millions of pounds in equity fundraising for alternative lenders.
The crowdfunding platform allows all investor types to support innovative and high-growth businesses, including peer-to-peer lending platforms.
Fintech banking service Revolut is the platform’s top performer to date, with £2.8m raised. The second-highest fundraiser is Seedrs at £1m, while P2P lender Assetz Capital is the platform’s third-highest draw, having raised £250,000.
According to Seedrs’ chief executive Jeff Kelisky, the platform reached its £1bn milestone on Christmas Day.
“We passed many milestones in 2020; from having hit 17 company exits to delivering over 27,000 investor exits on our secondary market,” said Kelisky.
“First, we started Seedrs to democratise investment into private growth businesses and this milestone is a clear measure of value put to work for our customers.
“Second, is that this is also a measure of earned trust by both entrepreneurs and investors.
“And third, is that in a year which has proved to be so challenging, personally and professionally for so many, the fact that we can and have succeeded in continuing to grow and serve our customers during this time is immensely rewarding for all of us here.”
Kelisky added that £8.6m has now been transacted via the Seedrs’ secondary market, while the secondary market is now averaging £500,000 of trades per month.
“We experienced a step change in transactions in 2020, we hit our first £1m plus trading month and from January to December our investor profits taken home market to market increased by 2.7 times – incredible achievements,” said Joel Ipolotti, chief product officer of Seedrs.
“The market started as a way to provide liquidity for crowdfunding investors but with the release of our secondaries proposition, we’ve started to see interest from private businesses and their investors that haven’t crowdfunded.
“The future is bright. These opportunities open the market even further with growth available from new businesses, new investors, and additional features combining to further unlock its potential.”
Read more: Seedrs and Crowdcube: A P2P history
Seedrs has undergone much change this year, agreeing to merge with fellow crowdfunding platform Crowdcube and introducing variable pricing on its secondary market so buyers can purchase shares at a discount or a premium.
A long list of P2P platforms and alternative lenders have used Seedrs for funding rounds in recent years. Some of these include: Assetz Capital, Landbay, The House Crowd, Abundance, FutureBricks, CrowdProperty, Crowdstacker, Elfin Market, British Pearl, EstateGuru, AxiaFunder and Flender.