Seedrs Limited is an online

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 ...

company, headquartered in East London's Tech City, founded in 2009 and launched by Jeff Lynn and Carlos Silva in 2012. Since 2022 it has been a subsidiary of American

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, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...

company

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

. In 2020, Seedrs announced that 250

startups A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an Entrepreneurship, entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses tha ...

had raised funding through its

platform during 2019. By 2022, Seedrs reported that over £1.9billion had been invested through the company.

History

The company was founded in 2012 by Jeff Lynn and Carlos Silva as part of an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

project at the

Saïd Business School Saïd Business School (Oxford Saïd or SBS) is the business school of the University of Oxford. The school is a provider of management education. Business and management classes started at Oxford in 1965 when the Centre of Management Studies, ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. In March 2012, Seedrs raised $1 million in

seed funding Seed money, also known as seed funding or seed capital, is a form of securities offering in which an investor puts capital in a startup company in exchange for an equity stake or convertible note stake in the company. The term ''seed'' suggests ...

from private investors including

venture capital firm Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in terms of number ...

Draper Esprit. In May 2012, Seedrs became the first equity crowdfunding platform to receive regulatory approval from the

Financial Conduct Authority The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is a financial regulatory body in the United Kingdom. It operates independently of the UK Government and is financed by charging fees to members of the financial services industry. The FCA regulates financi ...

. In July 2012, Seedrs launched its platform to the public. In November 2013, Seedrs raised £750,000 in funding through its own platform. In June 2015, professional tennis player

Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professio ...

joined Seedrs in an advisory role, having previously used the platform as an investor. In June 2017, Seedrs launched a

secondary market The secondary market, also called the aftermarket and follow on public offering, is the financial market in which previously issued financial instruments such as stock, bonds, options, and futures are bought and sold. The initial sale of ...

, becoming the first equity crowdfunding platform to allow investors to buy and sell shares in unlisted companies. In August 2017, Jeff Lynn stepped down as

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

to take up a position as Executive Chairman. Former COO Jeff Kelisky was promoted to CEO. In August 2017, Seedrs raised £4 million investment for challenger bank

Revolut Revolut Group Holdings Ltd, doing business as Revolut, is a British multinational neobank and fintech company that offers banking services for individuals and businesses. It was founded in July 2015 by British-Russian-French businessman Niko ...

. In October 2017, Seedrs announced it had raised £10 million in funding. In December 2018, Seedrs launched a venture capital fund aimed at passive startup investors. In August 2019, Seedrs raised £4.5 million in funding. In 2020, Seedrs and Crowdcube agreed to a merger. This was abandoned on 25 March 2021 after the

Competition and Markets Authority The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the principal competition regulator in the United Kingdom. It is a non-ministerial government department in the United Kingdom, responsible for promoting competitive markets and tackling unfair beh ...

raised concerns about the deal. In December 2021, Seedrs announced that it had agreed to be acquired by

, a US-based equity crowdfunding platform, for $100 million. The acquisition was criticised by some of Seedrs' small investors over preferential treatment given to large shareholders.

References

External links

* {{Crowdfunding platforms Equity crowdfunding platforms Crowdfunding platforms of the United Kingdom British companies established in 2012 2012 establishments in England Internet properties established in 2012