Symbid (also known as The Funding Network) is an online funding platform providing access to traditional and alternative finance for
small and medium-sized enterprises
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by international organizations such as the World Bank ...
. Headquartered in
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
,
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, Symbid was founded in April 2011 by Dutch entrepreneurs Robin Slakhorst and Korstiaan Zandvliet as one of the first
equity crowdfunding
Equity crowdfunding is the online offering of private company securities to a group of people for investment and therefore it is a part of the capital markets. Because equity crowdfunding involves investment into a commercial enterprise, it ...
platforms worldwide. Since 2017, Symbid operated under the license of Ilfa Group, that bought Symbid early 2019.
History
Early years
In 2007, Symbid's founders Robin Slakhorst and Korstiaan Zandvliet met while studying Entrepreneurship & New Business Venturing
M.Sc.
A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...
at
Rotterdam School of Management
Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (or RSM) is the international business school of the Erasmus University Rotterdam located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. RSM offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes taught mostly in English, ...
.
Between 2007 and 2010 Zandvlliet and Slakhorst coordinated a fiscal-legal structure allowing non-accredited investors to invest online in start-ups and small businesses. While a number of
crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...
platforms began to appear online from 2006 onwards, these were associated with creative projects and rewards or donation-based crowdfunding. Few countries had introduced formal equity crowdfunding legislation at this time. Symbid was founded in April 2011 as one of the first
equity crowdfunding
Equity crowdfunding is the online offering of private company securities to a group of people for investment and therefore it is a part of the capital markets. Because equity crowdfunding involves investment into a commercial enterprise, it ...
platforms worldwide.
Expansion
During 2012 Symbid established itself as one of several platforms in the rapidly expanding European equity crowdfunding industry.
Ownership interests
Symbid had ownership interests in Gambitious Coöperatie U.A. and 12% of Gambitious B.V.—the Dutch divisions of
crowd funding
Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by cro ...
and
video game publishing
A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that have been developed either internally by the publisher or externally by a video game developer.
They often finance the development, sometimes by paying a video game developer ...
company Gambitious Digital Entertainment (now
Good Shepherd Entertainment
Good Shepherd Entertainment (formerly Gambitious Digital Entertainment) is a Dutch video game publisher based in Amsterdam. The company was founded in 2011 and opened its equity crowdfunding platform in September 2012. Gambitious' publishing la ...
) Symbid sold their ownership in 2014. , it had ownership interest in the online business valuation tool Equidam, and the initiative funded by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, which operates a tool which enables entrepreneurs to present critical business information to investors in a standardized format, namely ''Kredietpaspoort'', through its parent company, ''Symbid Corp''.
Going public
On December 6, 2013 Symbid, through its parent company Symbid Corp., acquired a
public listing in the United States on
OTCQB Markets. As of July 2014, Symbid became one of the first publicly traded crowdfunding platforms worldwide. In addition to going public, Symbid Corp. conducted a
private placement offering (PPO), raising a gross total of (US)$2,926,695. In accordance with this public listing, Symbid Corp. opened offices in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, United States.
The launch of The Funding Network
Symbid and financial advisory firm Credion signed a partnership agreement in December 2014, creating the largest Dutch online funding platform by transaction volume. The partnership sees Credion using the Symbid platform to connect its nationwide network of investors and entrepreneurs, combining alternative and traditional sources of funding. Credion Director Carlo van der Weg described the partnership as “streamlining the way in which entrepreneurs find that crucial investment." Although not revealed at the time, this partnership was the precursor to the launch of The Funding Network in March 2015.
In March, 2015, Symbid relaunched its website and rebranded as Symbid, The Funding Network. Previously an equity crowdfunding platform, as of March 2015 Symbid began offering other financial products and services for
start-ups and
small businesses
Small businesses are types of corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships which have fewer employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being able to ap ...
including
financial advice
A financial adviser or financial advisor is a professional who provides financial services to clients based on their financial situation. In many countries, financial advisors must complete specific training and be registered with a regulatory ...
,
monitoring
Monitoring may refer to:
Science and technology Biology and healthcare
* Monitoring (medicine), the observation of a disease, condition or one or several medical parameters over time
* Baby monitoring
* Biomonitoring, of toxic chemical compounds, ...
and traditional and alternative financing options. In addition to a redesigned website, Symbid released a new monitoring product based on
XBRL
XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) is a freely available and global framework for exchanging business information. XBRL allows the expression of Semantics#Computer science, semantic meaning commonly required in business reporting. Th ...
data.
As of March 2015, Symbid claims to have connected 30,000 private (crowdfunding) investors and 40 institutional investors to The Funding Network, plus other online funding platforms active in niche industries, such as FarmersFunding. Following the launch, on 24 March Symbid and Economic Board Utrecht (EBU) announced a partnership to provide local, sustainable initiatives with loan capital via The Funding Network. EBU has committed $1 million in
growth capital
Growth capital (also called expansion capital and growth equity) is a type of private equity investment, usually a minority investment, in relatively mature companies that are looking for capital to expand or restructure operations, enter new mark ...
to entrepreneurs on The Funding Network in 2015.
Symbid Italia venture
Symbid announced the incorporation of Symbid Italia on 10 March 2015, in partnership with Gruppo Banca Sella. In 2016, Symbid Italia was deemed economically inviable and on April 29, 2016, a shareholders meeting determined to liquidate Symbid Italia.
Financial troubles
In 2014 and 2015 Symbid reported low turnover ($267,358 and $282,155 respectively) and a net loss of $2,821,794 (2014) and $2,299,275 (2015). In April 2015 the complete non-executive board of directors resigned in what Symbid reports as a "differences with remaining management concerning the Company’s strategic direction". Also in April 2016 it was reported that Symbid made their development team redundant. More losses of $2,005,751 in the first half year of 2016 "raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern". On October 12, 2016, the remaining three directors decided to reduce their salary to zero,"retroactive to August 1, 2016".
They also stated that "the company is investigating the options available for further cost reductions.".
At the same time, Symbid will have to apply for a license as investment firm under the
MiFID
Markets in Financial Instruments Directive 20142014/65/EU commonly known as MiFID 2 (Markets in financial instruments directive 2), is a legal act of the European Union. Together with Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 it provides a legal framework fo ...
to continue equity based crowdfunding activities as required by the Dutch
AFM, the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets, for all equity-based crowdfunding activities.
References
External links
*
{{Crowdfunding platforms
Crowdfunding platforms of the Netherlands
Financial services companies established in 2011