OREANDA-NEWS. The UK's leading investment crowdfunding platform, Crowdcube, today invites the UK public to register for early access to its latest round of funding. Crowdcube's last crowdfunding round in 2014 saw the company raise £1.2 million from crowd investors, alongside £3.8 million from one of Europe's leading venture capital firms Balderton Capital, in just 16 minutes. This time, in a first for Crowdcube, the company is raising funds with a prospectus, to allow us to issue shares to the crowd above the limit set by EU rules.  

The company has previously raised a total of £12.8 million to fund its growth after attracting investment from over 500 crowd investors, as well as leading venture capital firms Balderton Capital and Draper Esprit and city stockbroker Numis Securities.

"The UK has a long and proud history as a hotbed of entrepreneurialism and innovation," said Darren Westlake, co-founder and CEO of Crowdcube. "In just five short years we have firmly established our position as a global fintech pioneer and the UK's dominant equity crowdfunding platform but we're not stopping there. We've got ambitious plans for the future and we're excited to be able to give the crowd the opportunity to join us on our next exciting phase of growth."

Westlake adds: "The UK's growing investment crowdfunding market, which was estimated to be worth £245 million in 2015, is vibrant post-Brexit, with investment up 18% on Crowdcube after last week's disappointing out vote it is clear that investor demand to back great British businesses is unwavering."

Since Crowdcube first pioneered equity crowdfunding in 2011, it has amassed a crowd of over 285,000 members, which have invested more than £160 million in over 400 raises, with £110 million being raised since the start of 2015 alone.Businesses like the challenger bank Mondo, which earlier this year raised £1 million in a record-breaking 96 seconds as well as household brand names such as River Cottage, the Eden Project and venture capital backed businesses such as JustPark, eMoov and Sugru have all successfully raised growth funding from the crowd.

The company has also seen two of its funded companies, Camden Town Brewery and E-Car Club, go on to exit and deliver crowd investors with multiple returns after being acquired by AB InBev and Europcar respectively.

Investors who want to get ahead of the public launch of Crowdcube's fundraise can register for early access from 10:00 BST on Monday 4 July here: www.crowdcube.com/crowdcube. The investment will open to investors that have registered for early access on 18 July and to the wider public on 19 July.

As the world's first investment crowdfunding platform, Crowdcube enables entrepreneurs to bypass the traditional business angel, venture capital or bank finance routes, giving them more control and access to more investors. For investors, Crowdcube provides them with a way to cherry-pick a stake in an innovative business that traditionally would have been restricted to corporate investors. In addition, they can now benefit from a fixed return per annum by lending money to more established companies offering a mini-bond on Crowdcube.

Since 2011, more than 285,000 people have registered with Crowdcube, helping to raise over £160 million in over 400 raises for businesses including including goHenry (£4m), JustPark (raised £3.5m), Sugru (£3.4m), Chilango (£3.4m), Camden Town Brewery (£2.7m) and Eden Project (£1.5 million).