Caterham F1 raises £1.2m in crowdfunding project as possible buyers begin to surface November 11, 2014 Potential buyers have emerged for Caterham F1, with the cash-strapped Formula One team having raised over £1m in crowdfunding in just 48 hours. The team is looking to raise £2.35m to allow it to race in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on 23 November. Finbarr O’Connell, a partner from Caterham’s administrator Smith & Williamson, launched the [...]
Gimme 5: Startups crowdfunding this month September 22, 2014 Rollasole Target: £150,000 for 7.5 per cent equity If you’ve seen a pair of bendy pumps someone’s shoved in their handbag, you’ll know how useful Rollasole shoes are. Raised: £130,210 via Crowdcube 42 days left Line-Up Target: £200,000 for 9.09 per cent equity Line-Up’s technology collects and collates “what’s on” information from newspapers, radio [...]
Crowdfunding: Beware the celebrities offering investors strange deals September 14, 2014 I am a great fan of crowdfunding – it really is a cheap way of using modern technology to enable investors, including very small ones, to invest in all manner of things. So what can go wrong? Well, the regulators can stop it as effectively as they have made share offers to the public so [...]
Chapel Down gets taste for crowdfunding September 8, 2014 Chapel Down has turned to crowdfunding to raise up to £4m for its next phase of growth as Britain’s biggest wine-maker more than doubles in size. The Kent-based group, which makes sparkling and still wines as well as craft beers, said yesterday it is seeking to raise between £1m and £3.9m through Seedrs, the UK [...]
Crowdfunding Hollywood: Why the UK will finance the blockbusters of the future August 31, 2014 Over the years, the nationality of baddies in Hollywood films has offered a pretty reliable barometer of American geopolitical preoccupations. During the Cold War, there was an abundance of Russian villains on the big screen, with snow on their boots, vodka on their breath and their fingers on the nuclear trigger. More recently, jihadi terrorists, [...]
Crowdfunding Scottish independence: Voters on Indiegogo seek to give their sides a push August 21, 2014 Crowdfunding hub Indiegogo has taken a turn for the political. With exactly four weeks to go until the Scottish referendum, voters from both sides of the argument have created crowdfunding campaigns to give their side a good auld push. In the Yes corner, a group is offering to present a festival and subsequent album of [...]
Gimme 5: Companies crowdfunding this month August 11, 2014 All Star Minerals 12 per cent; 540-day convertible loan A listed UK mining company focused on the Queensland area of Australia. Current focus is on two near-term production copper-gold mines. It’s seeking £50,000. Crowd for Angels Mughals, The Series 10 per cent equity A television drama series about the Mughals, in the style of [...]
In a field of his own: FarmDrop’s Ben Pugh talks crowdfunding and the future of our food July 27, 2014 In the time it’s taken FarmDrop founder Ben Pugh to discuss his company with me, it crowdfunded £13,000. After just eight days on crowdfunding platform Crowdcube, FarmDrop raised more than its £400,000 investment target. A new way of doing food is, it seems, quite popular. The FarmDrop concept is simple: it streamlines the food [...]
Peer lending and crowdfunding an “increasing source of finance” for UK firms July 18, 2014 Peer lending and crowdfunding are becoming an "increasing source of finance" for firms, as non-bank alternatives are giving a growing number of UK firms a helping hand, according to the Bank of England. In its quarterly report on trends in lending, the central bank reports that credit conditions for businesses are improving, with net lending [...]
Grocery website Farmdrop uses crowdfunding to raise £400,000 July 14, 2014 A company that aims to link local food producers with consumers by tapping into the soaring popularity of click and collect is seeking to raise £400,000 using the crowdfunding site Crowdcube. Farmdrop is an online platform set up last year that allows shoppers to buy directly from producers, such as fishermen or bakers, and collect [...]