The investment was led by US unicorn, Circle. The strategic partnership will help pave the way to a global marketplace at every level of private fundraising, from seed stage to public offering.

Historically, the UK and the US have been the most developed markets for equity crowdfunding but that all changed on November 10 with new European-wide regulations. The investment will enable Crowdcube to accelerate its launch into Europe, capitalising on the recent regulation that provides uniform rules across Europe for capital raising and retail investment services.The investment also supports Crowdcube’s goals to enable entrepreneurs to raise capital from their dedicated communities wherever they are in the UK or Europe and is Circle’s largest strategic investment to date in the European market. 

Darren Westlake, CEO and Co-Founder of Crowdcube

In the first instance, we’re considering a crowd round to offer Crowdcube’s community of investors the opportunity to participate in our round, alongside Circle, supporting our growth as Europe’s preferred private investment marketplace.

With the recent regulatory changes, companies in the UK and EU will now be able to raise up to €13m from retail investors in a single offering of either primary or secondary shares (€8m from UK investors and €5m from European investors). Crowdcube announced earlier this month that it will be the first platform with pan-European and UK regulatory approvals. Crowdcube’s first-mover advantage in Europe will give investors and entrepreneurs access to cross-border equity opportunities.The funding comes as Crowdcube achieved a record year of growth with £200million invested (+21% YoY) and over 208k investments made, and a growing community with 174k new members this year bringing the total to 1.2 million. The fintech’s valuation has increased by 57% to £140 million since its last funding round in 2018 and it has raised around £30 million in total from both institutional and retail investors.