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Seedrs Limited
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryCrowdfunding
Founded16 March 2009; 15 years ago (2009-03-16)
FoundersJeff Lynn, Carlos Silva
Headquarters
London
,
United Kingdom
Area served
UK, Europe
Key people
Jeff Kelisky (CEO)
ParentRepublic
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata

Seedrs is an online equity crowdfunding company, headquartered in East London's Tech City, founded in 2009[1] and launched by Jeff Lynn and Carlos Silva in 2012.[2][3] Since 2022 it has been a subsidiary of American crowdfunding company Republic.

In 2020, Seedrs announced that 250 startups had raised funding through its crowdfunding platform during 2019.[4][5] By 2022, Seedrs reported that over £1.9 billion had been invested through the company.[6]

History

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The company was founded in 2012 by Jeff Lynn and Carlos Silva as part of an MBA project at the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford.[7]

In March 2012, Seedrs raised $1 million in seed funding from private investors including venture capital firm Draper Esprit.[8]

In May 2012, Seedrs became the first equity crowdfunding platform to receive regulatory approval from the Financial Conduct Authority.[9]

In July 2012, Seedrs launched its platform to the public.[8][10]

In November 2013, Seedrs raised £750,000 in funding through its own platform.[11]

In June 2015, professional tennis player Andy Murray joined Seedrs in an advisory role, having previously used the platform as an investor.[12][13][14]

In June 2017, Seedrs launched a secondary market, becoming the first equity crowdfunding platform to allow investors to buy and sell shares in unlisted companies.[15][16][17]

In August 2017, Jeff Lynn stepped down as CEO to take up a position as Executive Chairman. Former COO Jeff Kelisky was promoted to CEO.[18][19]

In August 2017, Seedrs raised £4 million investment for challenger bank Revolut.[20][21]

In October 2017, Seedrs announced it had raised £10 million in funding.[22][23]

In December 2018, Seedrs launched a venture capital fund aimed at passive startup investors.[24]

In August 2019, Seedrs raised £4.5 million in funding.[25]

In 2020, Seedrs and Crowdcube agreed to a merger.[26] This was abandoned on 25 March 2021 after the Competition and Markets Authority raised concerns about the deal.[27]

In December 2021, Seedrs announced that it had agreed to be acquired by Republic, a US-based equity crowdfunding platform, for $100 million.[28] The acquisition was criticised by some of Seedrs' small investors over preferential treatment given to large shareholders.[29]

References

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  1. ^ "Seedrs Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  2. ^ Silver, James (7 July 2012). "East London's 20 hottest tech startups". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  3. ^ "Just some of the investors you'll run into at #TheEuropas, June 13, London". TechCrunch. 24 May 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  4. ^ "Seedrs says amount invested on its platform jumped 49 per cent in 2019". CityAM. 6 January 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  5. ^ "Fintechs help deals on Seedrs jump nearly 50 percent". AltFi. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  6. ^ "Republic – Seedrs Ramp Up Cross-Listed Securities Offerings". Crowdfund Insider. 16 June 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  7. ^ "New Oxford Saïd research to study the economics of equity crowdfunding". Saïd Business School. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  8. ^ a b Russell, Jon (6 July 2012). "Seedrs Launches in the UK, Allowing Anyone to Invest in a Startup". The Next Web. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  9. ^ "FSA warning over crowdfunding sites". The Independent. 18 August 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  10. ^ "Eating Its Own Caviar, UK Equity Crowdfunding Platform Seedrs To Crowd-Raise £500K As It Expands To Europe". TechCrunch. 25 November 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  11. ^ Sparkes, Matthew (25 November 2013). "Crowdfunding start-up Seedrs raises £750,000 through its own website". ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  12. ^ Dann, Kitty (8 June 2015). "Andy Murray joins crowdfunding firm Seedrs". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  13. ^ Sweney, Mark (19 August 2015). "Andy Murray uses crowdfunding firm to invest in UK startups". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  14. ^ "No1 Seedr? Andy Murray backs more UK startups". The Guardian. Press Association. 15 May 2017. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  15. ^ "Start-ups might be about to receive a boost after Seedrs announces launch of secondary market". The Independent. 8 May 2017. Archived from the original on 11 May 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  16. ^ "Seedrs lifts cap on size of share lots in shakeup of its secondary market". AltFi. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  17. ^ CNBC.com, Neil Ainger; Writer at (8 May 2017). "Seedrs to launch secondary market for crowdfund investors". CNBC. Retrieved 4 June 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ "CEO switch for equity crowdfunder Seedrs". AltFi. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  19. ^ "Jeff Lynn steps down as CEO of Seedrs to become executive chairman". Startups.co.uk. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  20. ^ O'Halloran, Barry. "Andy Murray among Revolut investors on Seedrs". The Irish Times. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  21. ^ "Revolut's $5.3 million crowdfunding campaign is oversubscribed". TechCrunch. 30 July 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  22. ^ Bounds, Andy (17 December 2017). "Crowdfunding a mission to save capitalism from itself". FT.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  23. ^ "Seedrs valued at £50m after crowdfunding raise". BusinessCloud.co.uk. 4 October 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  24. ^ Evans, Peter. "Seedrs serves start-up fund". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  25. ^ Alois, J. D. (30 August 2019). "Seedrs Confirms £4.5 Million Funding Round, Larger Raise to Follow. Seedrs Users May Gain Access to Round". Crowdfund Insider. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  26. ^ Butcher, Mike (5 October 2020). "Crowdcube and Seedrs agree to merge, creating a significant private equity marketplace". TechCrunch. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  27. ^ Lynn, Jeff (25 March 2021). "Seedrs Terminates Merger with Crowdcube, Announces New Funding Round". Seedrs. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  28. ^ Butcher, Mike (1 December 2021). "Republic acquires the UK's Seedrs in $100M deal to push into Europe". TechCrunch. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  29. ^ Hurley, James (8 December 2021). "Seedrs sale to Republic a betrayal, say small backers". The Times. Archived from the original on 8 December 2021. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
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