Seedrs and Crowdcube go head to head As the UK equity crowdfunding platforms are named the country's most active investors, Startups.co.uk weighs up the success of the rival businesses... Written by Megan Dunsby Updated on 6 December 2021 Our experts We are a team of writers, experimenters and researchers providing you with the best advice with zero bias or partiality. Written and reviewed by: Megan Dunsby Our independent reviews are funded in part by affiliate commissions, at no extra cost to our readers. Having both made major growth announcements, UK equity-based crowdfunding businesses Seedrs and Crowdcube have now been named the UK’s most active investors as the competition for the majority share of the crowdfunding market hots up.Startups.co.uk brings you the latest news and delves a bit deeper into the two rival crowdfunding platforms and their successes to date…In the newsA report from Beauhurst has named Seedrs (founders pictured left) and Crowdcube as the most active investors in the country respectively, following an analysis of investments into non-listed UK companies.The report, entitled The Deal, found that Seedrs and Crowdcube enabled more transactions than any other UK investors between January and December 2016, with Seedrs facilitating 134 deals and Crowdcube facilitating 124 in this time, making the two platforms responsible for 86% of all crowdfunding activity and 21% of equity investments.Earlier in the past year, Seedrs, which claims to be “Europe’s number one equity crowdfunding platform”, issued plans in July 2016 to help the investment eco-system in the Benelux region with the launch of an Amsterdam office.The launch – “building relationships for Benelux start-ups” – coincided with news that the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) had granted Seedrs a ‘financial services passport’ which effectively meant that Seedrs can provide services anywhere in the EU.Meanwhile Crowdcube, which claims to be the “world’s first” investment crowdfunding platform, unveiled plans to create a secondary liquidity market with the intention to prevent shareholders “being locked-in” and to “accelerate potential investor returns”, with the ultimate aim to “encourage further investment in British businesses”.Crowdcube has also said it will be launching a series of products and services to help businesses manage investors “more efficiently”, and has also revealed it will be broadening its portfolio to include more venture and growth-stage companies.Additionally, the business is currently inviting investors to register for early access to its own £5m funding round; with £50m already received in expressions of interest.Seedrs and Crowdcube: Head to headGiven that Seedrs and Crowdcube have now been recognised as the UK’s most active investors, and both argue that their respective platforms are best for investors and start-ups, we’ve decided to take a closer look.We’ve weighed up some of the key statistics to see how the two crowdfunding platforms compare. Which platform is best for business? That’s for you to decide…SeedrsCrowdcubeLaunched: July 2012February 2011Founders: Jeff Lynn and Carlos SilvaDarren Westlake and Luke LangHQ: London (has offices in Lisbon, Berlin, Amsterdam and New York)Exeter (has offices in London and Spain)Proposition: FCA-regulated – and the first platform to receive FCA-approval – equity-based crowdfunding platform. It allows investors to back anything from £10 or €10 into “businesses they believe in” – it offers three campaigns; equity campaigns, funds and convertible campaigns.FCA-regulated, equity-based crowdfunding platform. Claims to give entrepreneurs “more control and access to more investors”. Also offers a mini-bond scheme whereby companies can raise money by offering investors a fixed return per annum.Focus: Seedrs is a full lifecycle platform, supporting companies from seed stage start-ups through to publicly-listed companies.Start-ups through to growth-stage businesses. 46% have been early-stage, 28% start-ups, and 26% growth.External funds raised: Over £13mOver £12.8mKey backers: Seedrs is backed by star fund manager Neil Woodford, Faber Ventures, Augmentum Fintech PLC (listed on the London Stock Exchange Main Market and Europe’s largest listed fintech fund) and over 2,000 of its own customers.Balderton Capital, Draper Esprit, NumisAdvisors: Includes tennis ace Andy Murray, Zopa co-founder James Alexander, and TechCrunch editor Mike ButcherIncludes Draper Esprit CEO Simon Cook, Draper Associates founder Tim Draper, and Numis CEO and founder Oliver HemsleyDeal structure: Operates a nominee structure whereby investors hold equity interest but only Seedrs sits on the cap table. This enables start-ups to raise follow-on funding with ease and also ensures investor protections such as pre-emption to prevent dilution of shares.Investors hold a direct equity interest in a company subject to the rights and risks of any other minority investor. Crowdcube also offers a nominee structure, which it launched in February 2015 when JustPark used the platform to raise £3.7m.Fees: 6% fee for successful raises7% fee for successful raises (excl. VAT)No. of investors: Not publicly disclosedIn excess of 340,000Total amount raised for businesses: Over £395m (July 2018)Over £212m (February 2017)No. of raises: Over 662 (July 2018)481 (January 2017)Largest fundraising: Seedrs (£7.07m) and Perkbox (£4.35m)BrewDog (£10m)Average no. of investors per raise: 280225Top sectors: Fintech, food & drink, techTech, internet companies, and food & drinkExits: : Wealthify, FreeAgent and Blow Ltd. The Seedrs Secondary Market has facilitated trading of over 600 share lots enabling early exits for investors, including investors in Revolut.Three – E-Car Club, Camden Town Brewery and Wool and the Gang Startups.co.uk is reader-supported. If you make a purchase through the links on our site, we may earn a commission from the retailers of the products we have reviewed. This helps Startups.co.uk to provide free reviews for our readers. It has no additional cost to you, and never affects the editorial independence of our reviews. Share this post facebook twitter linkedin Written by: Megan Dunsby