New Growth and Seed Capital Solution for Midlands Businesses
Added by Love Business East Midlands | 12 June 2018
UPDATED: 12 June 2018
Raising growth capital is a vital activity for any aspiring start-up, scale-up business or established company which wishes to grow bigger faster.
In recent years, there has been an explosion of options in this space, but many involve debt, high cost and risk. While debt might be appropriate because it can be repaid without interfering with the equity structure, it will come with other conditions and financial covenants.
A viable alternative to debt finance is to raise funds in return for equity from your family, friends and followers, including your loyal customer base. However, managing this process and structuring a fund-raise is complex, time-consuming and can take focus away from your business.
Recognising this need, Investment Platform Shadow Foundr, which has an office at Loughborough University, has developed its new Followers Investment Platform.
This slick, automated platform enables companies wishing to raise funds through family, friends and followers, the opportunity to do so in a proven and sophisticated way, which will reflect well on their business.
The secure, online investment platform is a confidential space where businesses seeking capital can quickly connect with their own networks of potential investors, share information, secure investment and grow.
Companies can very simply and quickly utilise the Followers Investment Platform to create their own funding campaign, which in turn can unlock and monetise their own community of investors.
Shadow Foundr Chief Operations Officer Jason Kluver said the beauty of the platform was that it allowed any company at any stage of its development, to raise growth capital.
“Every business needs funding at some stage, whether it be seed capital for a start-up or growth capital for an established company,” he said.
“Our platform technology allows companies to confidentially manage their own investment community and have control over the funds they raise.”
“Using the platform, companies can tell their business story, introduce the team and explain their business goals, target market, revenue and exit strategies, as well as how much money they are seeking to raise, in exchange for how much equity they are offering.
“We’ll provide guidelines and all the templates needed to get a campaign up and running within just a few days.
“Your followers, who are all potential investors, will be able to view your campaign information, ask questions and, if they like what they see, invest in you directly through the platform, simply, quickly and efficiently.
“It really is a smart, time-saving way to monetise your loyal customer base and fund your business, whilst allowing you to maintain focus on your business and revenue.”
There is a small onboarding fee of £1,000 plus vat for the service, which covers all initial administration, marketing assistance to get the campaign going, investor Know Your Client (KYC) and AML (anti-money laundering) checks. On top of this, Shadow Foundr charges 4% of any investment made through the platform, meaning fees from campaigns are by and large success-based.
A campaign can be up and running within one week, and subject to various factors, the target should be reached within 4-8 weeks. If you are looking at raising some capital for your business through your existing networks, Shadow Foundr’s Followers Platform provides the perfect forum to do so.
For more information, email followers@shadowfoundr.com.
Latest News
