Luke Lang: Crowdcube

Luke Lang, 35
Company: Crowdcube
Web: www.crowdcube.com

Coming in at number 11 on the Startups 100 list last year, Darren Westlake and Luke Lang’s Crowdcube was one of the first companies to introduce the concept of equity-based crowdfunding to the wider world and the first to pioneer the method as a viable alternative to angel network-led seed funding. Generated largely from a success fee for completed deals, admittedly modest revenues have risen more than seven-fold, with over 60 businesses having now successfully used Crowdcube to raise a total of more than £12m in investment. Much of this total has come during a very successful 2013 so far; £7.5m was raised between January and August compared to £2.7m for the whole of 2012.

The past year has seen some particularly high-profile deals take place on the site. Having seen The Rushmore Group raise a then crowdfunding world record £1m in November 2011, Crowdcube itself topped it in May this year when it raised £1.5m through its own platform – smashing its initial funding target of £250,000. This investment will ensure that Crowdcube is well-placed to continue its enormous influence on the crowdfunding sector in the future.