When it comes to equity crowdfunding, the go-to platform for any European investor, young company or growth stage business is either Crowdcube, Seedrs, or both. In the first half of 2020, the two platforms topped Beauhurst’s State of UK Crowdfunding report, with similar, impressive performances. Seedrs closed 95 deals and raised £49.7m, while Crowdcube secured 97 deals and generated £48.5m  – all throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Only one in five women in the UK hold investments... why? In the first of this three-part series I’ll be exploring this question and sharing some of my experience working in the male-dominated world of finance.

Fintech business lender, MarketFinance has secured an additional £50m from one of Israel’s largest asset managers, Viola Credit, to lend to UK SMEs under the HM Treasury and British Business Bank CBILS initiative. The announcement comes as MarketFinance launches a 'unified application' process in which SMEs will, through one application, be presented with a variety of finance options and be able to select those best suited to their needs.

For startups, the importance of quality professional advice cannot be overstated. While business owners are quick to seek advice from lawyers and accountants there is considerable resistance to seeking financial advice.  A survey conducted by OpenMoney earlier this year, which polled 2,080 adults, provides a worrying insight into how business owners view financial advisers and the advice that they provide. We spoke to Pradeep Oliver, Partner, Cripps Pemberton Greenish who gave us more insight on the topic.

European VC funds are raising a record amount of capital in recent years - $13B in 2018 with over 40% going into funds greater than €250M. Venture is not only a vital source for startup companies to achieve growth and create value through innovation - it is key for the overall economy. In essence, it is a two-sided business, where exceptional founders are matched with capital. While a lot has been said and written about the ‘front’ facing side of the venture industry, how do venture capital firms emerge and raise their funds?

Just as small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy, cash is the beating heart of every SME. But getting cash flow wrong can have devastating consequences, so how can businesses use the fintech industry to protect themselves and create stability in the most uncertain of times?

It is often said that turnover is vanity and profit is sanity. But, even more importantly, do not forget that cash is king. Put simply, businesses fail because they do not have enough cash or other liquid assets to pay their bills or meet their immediate obligations. So, whilst increasing turnover and growing profitability are what every business owner is aiming to achieve, it is crucial to still have a very strong focus on cash flow and the levels of cash in the business.

A lot of startups require funding to gain momentum and sustainable growth. For many entrepreneurs, they might start by investing out of their own pockets, or some prefer to use a business loan, bank loan or through a venture capital firm to raise several millions.

Performance marketing agency, Journey Further, has teamed up with Europe’s first revenue-based finance provider, Uncapped, to offer performance marketing support to entrepreneurs, startups and scaleups across the continent.

Fintech companies offer innovative and much-needed financial services and products; however, they have not been heard and seen at the political level sufficiently. EFA aims to become the united voice of the Fintech companies in Europe.

The amount of information we are exposed to exceeds our ability to process it. Out of the about 70,000 thoughts we have per day, our short term memory can hold no more than seven for only about 20 to 30 seconds. How does this relate to branding? Our long-term memory stores our associations with specific brands which is also ultimately the desired effect of marketing campaigns or PR activities - for people to remember your company (or you as a person!) when in need of the products or services you provide.

The Future Fund is the UK Government’s funding scheme designed to assist early-stage, high growth firms across the UK meet the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The current financial climate is disturbing for technology founders. At the European level, we have over 300 VC funds continuing to actively invest and grant-making programmes in every country, yet founders face many hurdles accessing capital. 

I was asked very recently by a company to explain how I would approach their projected Intellectual Property (trademarks, patents, code of the platform) concerning their Balance Sheet or Statement of Financial Position. To make it even more complicated and they have asked me to consider both UK accounting rules as well as the US.

Asto Business Capital loans are now available on the Funding Options platform as part of a long term partnership with the business finance marketplace. The Santander-backed app joins Funding Options’ roster of more than 200 lender partners, offering loans of as little as £150 or as much as £150,000, to help small businesses plug urgent cash flow holes.

2019 was a record breaking year for VC investment in UK startups ($13.2bn, an increase of 44% compared to the previous year) and the amount of VC dry powder in Europe is higher than ever before(more last year’s raises here). Success stories of companies raising millions without a formal pitch deck (Hopin, an online events platform) or still in beta and during lockdown (Clubhouse, a voice-based social media app) do sound inspiring.

Conducting a regular business audit is a vital document that is needed to help monitor and inspect the financial situation of a company. To prevent losing track of assets and overheads a business has, audits help bring clarity to managers where their cash in-flows and out-flows are going to and from.

Since the Coronavirus outbreak, multiple concerns about the pandemic deepening social and economic inequalities have been raised. The latest ‘Ecoystem’ webinar session brought together leading investors and one of world’s largest engineering and manufacturing companies in a conversation on challenging industry perceptions to break down barriers to VC funding and innovation.

Raising funding for your startup can be a challenging task at the best of times. And then along came a pandemic, making it even harder. 

OurCrowd, a crowdfunded-venture investment platform, has announced the launch of its Pandemic Innovation Fund. The Fund plans to raise $100m for investment in urgent technological solutions for the medical, business, educational and social needs triggered by global pandemics and other health emergencies.