We’re thrilled to announce that today, the 2,000th campaign was funded via the Seedrs platform. It’s a monumental milestone for us, and even more exciting for all of the businesses out there doing impactful things thanks to our communities’ investments. It follows our 1,000th successful campaign in 2020 (more on that below), and with it taking us just three years to support the next 1,000 — it is a real testament to the traction of the platform, and the team here at Seedrs.
The founders and businesses that have raised on Seedrs are driving the change in the world with their ambition, and they couldn’t do it without our incredible investor community, joining them on the journey. The potential success our investors continue to see through the Seedrs platform is fantastic for the world of private investing, and we’re honoured to be leading the charge in making these opportunities even more accessible to experienced and new investors alike..
We’re proud to work with the determined businesses and dedicated founders that work relentlessly to realise their visions and create the world of tomorrow. Each and every one of the 2,000 raises has been important and meaningful and we’d love to celebrate them all, but we’ve picked out 10 of some of the most standout raises, on the road to us achieving that 2,000 funded number.
- Swogo – The first raise
We couldn’t celebrate our 2,000th raise without going right back to the beginning, to where it all started. Swogo, the first ever successfully funded Seedrs campaign went live on 13th July 2012. Their cross-sell bundle technology helps retailers like Decathlon and Sephora increase their margin and they raised £17,500 from 47 investors from that first campaign. Since then they’ve had four raises on Seedrs, resulting in an exit opportunity for investors in 2022, when Swogo was acquired by 1WorldSync. Investors received from 9x to 16x on their investment depending on when they invested.
- Revolut – One of the most famous
Revolut is one of the world’s most famous fintechs, boasting over 16 million users globally. Revolut raised £3.8 million from over 4,000 investors on Seedrs in 2017 at a pre-money valuation of £275 million, and in 2018 they were given unicorn status. That valuation has since increased by over 5,000%, with hundreds of Revolut shares traded on our Secondary Market every month.
It is fantastic to be a part of such a recognisable company’s journey and a testament to the hard work from the Revolut team.
- Senta – The largest exit
Private investing is well known for being high risk, but also high reward. We have seen some great outcomes for investors during the last 10 years and we thought we’d highlight the highest returns from an exit on Seedrs ever.
Senta, a cloud-based practice management platform for accountants, first raised on Seedrs in 2014 as part of the 2014 Webstart Bristol cohort. After a few more investing rounds, Senta was acquired in 2021 by IRIS Software Group. For investors who were able to take full advantage of the SEIS reliefs that were available on the first two rounds of investment, first-round investors saw up to 332x total return, with second-round investors achieving more than 50x! What’s more, these investors didn’t need to pay capital gains tax thanks to the benefits of SEIS. A real success story!
- Oddbox – Most female investors in one round
In January 2023, female-founded Oddbox raised a convertible round on Seedrs, their fourth raise on the platform. This campaign saw the highest number of female investors in one round, 1,294, and a higher percentage than male investors in the round. Investing is traditionally seen as a male dominated space, but campaigns like this give us hope for more gender diversity and fairness across the industry. We’ve still got a way to go but we are proud of this progress.
Oddbox ran a secondary share sale in 2021, when institutional investor Burda Principal Investments offered to buy 1,001 Oddbox shares held by Seedrs. This gave our investors the opportunity to exit and realise returns on their investment. Investors saw 11.4x to 31.9x return on their investment, depending on which round they invested in.
On 25th February 2020, we triumphantly reached the milestone of 1,000 funded companies on Seedrs. The 1,000th campaign to be funded was B Corp-certified Learn Amp, a SaaS learning, engagement and performance platform for businesses. Learn Amp has raised on Seedrs four times and raised over £3.1m. The business is thriving, with clients such as Metro Bank and Specsavers.
1,000 funded campaigns was a huge milestone for us. To be at 2,000 just 3 years later is a massive achievement and reflects the traction we built after years of hard work.
In 2021 we made history. For the very first time in Europe, Seedrs opened up access to a private venture fund to the crowd by partnering with one of the UK’s pre-eminent early-stage tech venture capital firms, Passion Capital.
Since 2011 Passion Capital has funded 96 early-stage tech startups, backing over 100 founders who have grown their teams to include over 1,000 team members. Passion Capital was the first investor in household names like GoCardless, Monzo Bank, Lendable, Butternut Box, Marshmallow, Nested, and many more.
But we didn’t stop with one venture capital fund. Passion Capital was just the beginning. Eligible Seedrs investors have been able to access a suite of venture capital funds since, like JamJar and Seedcamp, to name a few.
- Cheeky Panda – Most successful Secondary campaign
Alongside our Primary funding campaigns, at Seedrs we also offer Secondaries. This differs from a Primary where ‘new’ shares are issued by the business – Secondaries offer equity from existing shareholders. Existing shares are sold by existing shareholders in exchange for liquidity, rather than new shares being issued by the company raising capital. We’re able to help shareholders exit in the same way that secondary VC funds can, with one simple transaction, thanks to the Seedrs Nominee.
Cheeky Panda’s sell out Secondary campaign in 2021 was the most successful Secondary share sale on Seedrs with over £2.5m worth of shares bought.
When Cheeky Panda looked at the Seedrs Secondary Market, they saw that their shares were some of the most actively traded, so they knew there was a massive demand. The shares were trading at a premium to their last valuation, showing good appetite, but there was a liquidity issue as most shareholders were holding the stock.
They decided to release some extra shares into the Seedrs market at a 20% premium, resulting in an exit event for investors and the most successful Secondary share sale on Seedrs. Along with a convertible round, The Cheeky Panda has raised six times on Seedrs, a true investor favourite.
- AFC Wimbledon – Most investors in one round
Founded in 2003 and nicknamed The Dons, AFC Wimbledon was the first football club to raise on Seedrs in 2019. After a hugely successful rally of adoring fans, their first campaign wins the top spot for most investors in one funding round on Seedrs at 5,053, making it a true fan-owned club. The raise helped them finish their stadium and achieve their goal to bring them home to Plough Lane.
- Landbay – Most funding rounds on Seedrs
We love seeing startups returning to the platform and growing their investor community and its Landbay that tops the leaderboard for most number of raises on Seedrs. They have raised 14 times (three of which have been pre-emptions), raising a total of £17.1m over ten years. Landbay is a mortgage lending platform for the rental sector with a goal to become the go-to funding partner for buy-to-let investors. We’ll always be here if Landbay needs us again!
10. FoodMarble – 2,000th successfully funded campaign on Seedrs
We started with the first successfully funded campaign on Seedrs so we’re going to end on the most recent, the 2,000th funded campaign. Let’s hear it for FoodMarble whose sold out pre-emption round has just been successfully funded!
FoodMarble takes the guesswork out of eating with their clinically-validated digestive breath testing device. Their advanced devices help people with SIBO, IBS and certain digestive issues monitor how their bodies digest certain foods in real-time.
FoodMarble first came to Seedrs at the end of 2020, where they raised €2,489,421 from 339 investors at a pre-money valuation of €9,009,499. FoodMarble has been going from strength to strength and at the beginning of 2023 they raised external investment and so opened up a pre-emption for Seedrs investors at an increased pre-money valuation of €12,799,490. The pre-emption sold out and FoodMarble raised a total of €993,833.
One of the most important benefits of investing through the Seedrs nominee is the pre-emption rights that our investors receive – it allows investors to maintain their equity percentage when the business receives new investment.
We hope you have enjoyed this round up of some of our most standout raises in the last 10 years. It’s been great to look back and celebrate how far we’ve come. Thank you to all of the incredible entrepreneurs and investors that have been on this journey with us and we are excited for the next chapter.
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