Crowdcube reveals 20% jump in investment since Brexit

Despite expectations of a negative impact, crowdfunding platform Crowdcube has announced that it has seen a 20% increase in investment since the UK voted to leave the European Union in June last year.

The final quarter of 2016 was the site’s best since it launched in 2011, with businesses raising nearly £80m collectively on Crowdcube across the year, bringing the total amount invested to £210m.

The last six years has also seen the average raise for a business jump from £239,000 to £642,000, while its investor community has grown from 8,000 to more than 340,000.

Meanwhile the size of Crowdcube’s largest funding round has increased by ten-fold since 2011, with BrewDog closing 2016’s biggest at £10m – one of the year’s biggest.

The news comes as Startups 100 company MyShowcase, a personal beauty shopping service, has closed a £1m funding round on the platform – thought to be the first to top £1m in 2017.

Over 390 investors participated in the round, which smashed its initial target of £250,000. The finance will be used to bolster the ranks of its 1,600 MyShowcase stylists who sell products through the platform. The company, which has been a Startups Awards finalist, is expecting to double turnover to over £4m this year.

Luke Lang, co-founder of Crowdcube, commented: “Brexit may be the word on everyone’s lips, but investment through Crowdcube over the last six months has been vibrant, with crowdfunding records being broken in terms of the size of investment rounds and the speed at which companies are funding.”

Nancy Cruickshank, founder and CEO of MyShowcase, commented: “MyShowcase is one of the UK’s fastest growing startups and we are certain that we wouldn’t be where we are today without our fabulous community. Crowdfunding enabled us to truly open our doors and involve them.

“We cannot wait to execute our ambitious growth plans, hand-in-hand with the MyShowcase network.”