Crowdcube raises £1.5m using its own website

Online investment platform Crowdcube has raised £1.5m of funding in three days using its own website, setting a new world record for investment raised via crowdfunding.

The site met its funding target of £250,000 within five hours of the pitch being advertised to existing investors.

A further £1.25m was invested within 48 hours of the opportunity going live to the public, setting a new world record.

A 21% stake in the business was offered in exchange for the £1.5m investment, which puts the company’s valuation at around £7.1m.

It follows an initial crowdfunding round in December 2011 when 162 people invested £320,000 in the company.

The investment will be used to employ new staff members, to promote the platform to investors, and to support Crowdcube’s plans for international expansion; initially planned for Sweden, Brazil and the USA.

Launched in 2011, Crowdcube became the 47th business to meet its funding target using the site, which allows businesses to advertise and gain investment from members of the public.

Since its launch, the site claims to have raised over £8.2m for British businesses, with 34,000 registered investors using the service.

Darren Westlake, co-founder and chief executive of Crowdcube, said: “The response from our members was truly overwhelming and really demonstrates the power of equity crowdfunding to provide a platform for people to support businesses they think are worthy of investment.

“To raise £1.5 million in only three days is an astonishing achievement and it puts us in a strong position to realise our growth ambitions on behalf of our new investors.”