Crowdcube launches secondary market for later-stage businesses
Equity crowdfunding platform Crowdcube has launched a secondary market product which will help later-stage companies – including peer-to-peer lending platforms – access new funding opportunities.
Crowdcube said this direct community offer (DCO) will connect three sets of stakeholders: entrepreneurs who wish to offer their communities a stake in their business, new investors via Crowdcube, and current shareholders who want to take up the opportunity to sell shares.
Crowdcube is part of the UK Crowdfunding Association alongside P2P lending platforms such as CrowdProperty, Money&Co and Rebuildingsociety and has used its platform for crowdfunding campaigns for a number of P2P lenders.
These include fundraising for property P2P lender Propifi, cryptocurrency P2P lending platform Nebeus and buy-to-let and bridging P2P lender LandlordInvest in 2018 as well as a campaign for asset-backed P2P lender Ablrate last year.
“We’re seeing a global trend towards high-growth, household names, looking for alternative ways of rewarding early investors with some liquidity, without the burden of going public through a traditional IPO,” said a Crowdcube spokesperson.
“These same forward-thinking businesses also love the idea of offering their loyal customers the chance to become new shareholders, without the need to raise further investment. The DCO solves this conundrum.”
In April this year Crowdcube launched the Save Our Start-ups campaign, supported by Innovative Finance, UK Business Angels Association and several P2P lending platforms, such as Simple Crowdfunding, to urge the government to support start-up firms at risk of collapsing due to Covid-19.
Later that month the government launched a £1.25bn support package for innovative start-ups, including the £500m future fund whereby it matches the private fundraising efforts of eligible firms from £125,000 to £5m.