Online farmers market Farmdrop receives funding from Zoopla founder Alex Chesterman June 7, 2015 Farmdrop, the online farmers’ market for Londoners, has received significant funding from Alex Chesterman, the man behind Zoopla, It is also preparing to launch another major crowdfunding campaign. This is expected to launch in the next two to three weeks. Chesterman, who also founded LoveFilm, invested £100,000 in the final quarter of 2014. Farmdrop founder, [...]
Tesco’s Dunnhumby has another suitor as Hellman & Friedman join WPP, Nielsen and several private equity firms June 7, 2015 Yet another company has joined the clamor for a slice of Tesco's data business which was behind the supermarket's hugely successful Clubcard loyalty scheme. Hellman & Friedman, the US private equity firm, is the latest bidder said to be interested in Dunnhumby, joining a crowded line-up of potential buyers willing to splash out as much as [...]
Peer-to-peer lending isn’t shadow banking: It’s now more transparent than ever June 3, 2015 Whether we in the industry like it or not, peer-to-peer lending has for some time been lumped together with the likes of hedge funds, offbeat types of investment vehicles and even payday lenders in what is known as the “shadow banking sector”. This term was originally designed to cover those entities outside the regular banking [...]
Crowdfunding regulation: What’s the ideal position? Sector must not run on due negligence June 3, 2015 The dynamic growth of the crowdfunding industry in the UK is both an exciting and structurally important development for our economy. It has attracted a lot of interest, as excess money searches for better returns in a decade of low interest rates, low growth, low inflation and therefore, for many, low returns. While many [...]
Kitstarter: All aboard Hornby’s new Airfix crowdfunding project May 29, 2015 Who said model planes were old fashioned? Hornby, the company behind Airfix, has launched its own crowdfunding project – called, naturally, "Kitstarter". The idea behind the scheme is that if an Airfix model no longer in production gets enough backing, it will bring it back. Model fans will be able to pre-order it via Hornby's [...]
City A.M. crowdfunding event a crowd pleaser May 28, 2015 It's a new sector that has recently seen fundraising for everything from the Veronica Mars movie to whisky. No wonder there was an enthusiastic crowd at City A.M.’s first crowdfunding conference, held in association with Another Crowd at the RAC yesterday. The calibre of the speakers – who included veteran fund manager Nicola [...]
Flying off the scale: Fever-Tree’s Tim Warrillow talks malaria, crane strikes and private equity May 25, 2015 We're seeing a renaissance; it’s incredibly exciting. People are better educated and the market is growing and growing – and quite right too, it’s a great English invention.” Tim Warrillow is talking about the gin and tonic – something the co-founder of maverick drinks company Fever-Tree knows a fair bit about. The gin and [...]
Crowdcube’s Luke Lang on what sort of people invest on crowdfunding platforms May 20, 2015 1. Smart money invests over lunch The most popular time to invest is at lunchtime and straight after work, between 5-6pm The online investment model is perfect for professional people who can find, review and invest in a variety of businesses, at a pace that suits their busy lifestyle. The majority of our investors [...]
Financial challengers Zopa and Metro Bank join forces to bring peer-to-peer lending and high street banking together May 19, 2015 Peer-to-peer lender Zopa has teamed up with challenger bank Metro Bank to lend funds through the latter's marketplace. The deal marks the first of its kind in the UK as Metro Bank, already lending funds to Zopa's consumer borrowers, recognises peer-to-peer (P2P) lending as a new asset class. Zopa's chief executive Giles Andrews described it [...]
Whisky investment platform WhiskyInvestDirect raises £1m through crowfunding May 18, 2015 An online start-up that allows whisky-lovers to invest in premium bottles of the tipple said yesterday it has raised over its initial target of £1m on Angels Den, an angel-led crowdfunder. WhiskyInvestDirect was set up by Paul Tustain, the founder of online gold trading platform BullionVault, and former Diageo commercial director Rupert Patrick to allow [...]