Whether you’re all ready to rock’n’roll with crowdfunding because it feels like the natural fit for your business (and it works with your overall investment strategy!), or perhaps you’re slightly more skeptical about the whole process, convinced that crowdfunding is purely for B2C businesses; in this article, we explore whether crowdfunding might be right for you.
Side note – this article isn’t about convincing you that crowdfunding is right for you, or indeed for everyone. This is about showing you the options and debunking a few myths to help you make an informed decision.
Before we get into the detail of whether crowdfunding is right for your business, it’s worth taking a little trip down memory lane and understanding a potted history of the evolution of crowdfunding.
Equity (and debt) crowdfunding became a plausible alternative source of funding for small businesses after the recession in the late 2000s resulted in more traditional funding sources, such as bank debt, drying up. It was primarily used by consumer-focused brands, who could tap into their customers’ loyalty, to bankroll their operations so as to be able to continue trading. The industry started formalising with the launch of a number of crowdfunding sites who specialised in standardising and regulating the crowdfunding process. This created a snowball effect whereby brand customers would sign up to a crowdfund site to invest in their favourite brand, and stay on to discover and invest in new brands.
Not long after, investors quickly cottoned on to the fact that crowdfunding platforms were an efficient way of accessing a variety of deal-flow, particularly for early-stage EIS-qualifying opportunities, which they could not access elsewhere. This success was being witnessed by investors abroad and so UK platforms started becoming more popular with international investors, helping grow both the demand and supply sides of these platforms.
By then, crowdfunding switched from being a funding of last resort, or of fledgling businesses just starting out, to an alternative funding source sought after by companies who wanted to tag a crowdfund campaign onto their larger institution-led fundraisers, such Thread, Mr & Mrs Smith, and Monzo. The large pool of investors in these platforms meant larger potential capital at stake and therefore a wider range of investment opportunities, including B2B, cleantech, healthtech, started to mushroom in crowdfunding sites.
Today, crowdfunding is no longer just for small businesses. In fact, it is increasingly the choice for growth businesses looking to open up their funding rounds to the crowd as an effective and efficient way of bringing angels, their community and customers in as investors alongside institutions.
And yet, crowdfunding is not right for all businesses, so it is important for founders to make an educated decision as to whether to raise investment through this method. Let’s look at some questions for you to consider to help you work through whether or not crowdfunding might be for you:
Common crowdfunding myths:
It’s only for B2C businesses and breweries
Whilst consumer brands and breweries continue to perform well on crowdfunding platforms, we’re increasingly seeing B2B businesses executing extremely successful crowdfunding campaigns including Celtic Renewables and Equipsme.
Crowdfunding is where you go if you can’t raise money elsewhere
As we’ve already shared, crowdfunding is now seen as a brilliant way to engage customers, foster loyalty and democratise large-scale, later-stage growth rounds of investment with companies tacking on a crowdfund to their Series A or Series B rounds.
It’s easy
Nothing is easy. Sorry!
