VentureFounders calls on George Osborne to bolster UK industry by extending SEIS limit

VentureFounders, the UK-based equity crowdfunding platform, has called on the Chancellor of the Exchequer to give further assistance to entrepreneurs and help people invest in UK businesses through the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS).

Commenting, James Codling and Paul Moravek, Co-Founders of VentureFounders, said:

"As one of the top four entrepreneurial countries in the world*, George Osborne needs to show commitment to maintaining Government support to UK businesses and entrepreneurs.  We think there are two ways in which he can encourage high net worth individuals to invest in entrepreneurial UK businesses through the existing SEIS and EIS schemes.

"Firstly, we call on him to increase the amount that can be raised by companies under SEIS from £150,000 to £250,000 to give these early stage businesses the capital they need to achieve their growth potential. This will ensure that more money is being invested in fledgling businesses, and that investors are rewarded with tax efficient ways of making investments in UK plc.

"Second, and equally as important, is being able to raise sufficient equity capital at the outset of a new venture in order to enable these entrepreneurial businesses to grow without constraint. We firmly believe that businesses should be able to raise capital concurrently using both the SEIS and EIS schemes. Under the current rules, a company can only issue new shares and bring in more capital once it has spent 70% of its SEIS money. Raising investment takes a considerable amount of time and effort; management is best served running the business rather than continually meeting investors and fundraising.

New era for equity crowdfunding kicks off as Burgundy winemaker Domaine Chanzy uses Seedrs to conduct its Initial Public Offering on AIM

JustPark triples investment target on Crowdcube, raising £3.7 million from 2,900 investors

JustPark closes largest technology equity crowdfunding round in UK's history ? Campaign reaches highest total investment amount on Crowdcube and has the biggest overfunding ? Parking app's pitch attracts record number of investors, as 2,900 people join existing backers BMW i Ventures and Index Ventures

 JustPark, the pioneering app and website that connects

parking space owners with drivers looking for a convenient space, has smashed its £1 million crowdfunding target by 370%, raising £3.7 million in 34 days through Crowdcube. While JustPark is still open to receiving expressions of interest, the campaign is officially closed to investment, having raised the maximum amount allowed for SMEs under EU regulation.

This is the largest amount of money ever invested in a British technology business through equity crowdfunding, and the highest amount invested in a company in the history of Crowdcube, the UK's largest investment crowdfunding platform. Crowdcube's previous top deal was the Mexican restaurant chain Chilango, which raised more than £2 million through its Mini-Bond in 2014.

More than 2,900 people invested an average of £1,200 in JustPark over the month-long campaign. Members of the public were given the opportunity to claim a stake in the company for just £10, although the single largest investment was £500,000. New shareholders will join JustPark's existing backers, BMW i Ventures, the venture capital arm of automotive giant BMW and Index Ventures, one of Europe's leading technology investors whose previous successes include Skype, Dropbox and JUST EAT.

investUP insights: Was this Budget good for crowdfunding?

Following George Osborne's Budget earlier this week, James Tuckett, MD of recently launched crowdfunding supermarket, investUP, shares his thoughts on whether the Budget was good for crowdfunding.

"I will always owe my budgeting interest to my parents, who seemed to budget according to how many cases of wine would fit into the Volvo estate."

And then I saw my first public budget, which seemed to be a very similar farcical public showing, although billions were spent, rather than should the family spend money on food or go for the seriously decent plonk. Both pantomime of the highest level. And so I adopted gazelle intensity, as customary with the budget bonanza, and a skill well learnt from childhood. After all, this entire budget was hyped to contain a few nuggets dealing with the crowdfunding sector, something naturally keen to my and UP's heart.

Hints of an equity crowdfunding ISA

A pledge was included to explore looking at the inclusion of crowd equity within the Chancellors new "Flexible ISAs". If true then this is an excellent result for equity crowdfunding and UP. But I would not jump UP for joy just yet, the P2P loans consultation is still ongoing, and that was announced last year. That said UP will be unique at being able to offer users both P2P and equity ISAs from under one roof.

A bespoke regulatory environment for crowdfunding sites

The Chancellor announced creating a bespoke regulatory regime for P2P and crowdfunding platforms. This is an excellent result. Whilst it is known that the FCA are already pretty bespoke in how they deal with crowdfunding, further political support for the sector shows even more acceptance for the direction in which crowdfunding is going.

P2P relief and ISAs

The Government has previously indicated that they will introduce a new relief, allowing individuals lending through P2P to offset any losses from loans against other P2P income. This is a big change! Likewise there was further confirmation that ISA eligibility will be extended to P2P investments from April 2015.

Further lending support

Another £85m of British Business Bank investment will be pushed out via peer-to-peer and crowdfunding platforms. Hopefully these funds will also be distributed through smaller sites and not just the big boys.

So after all that it was a pretty good budget for crowdfunding. No fireworks, just business progressing nicely. With the political landscape potentially changing soon, it is a massive case of wait and see.

"Just a spoon full of venom helps the medicine get made"

An intriguing business called 'Venomtech' that extracts venom from nature's most efficient killers to provide a rich source of drug discovery tools for pharmaceutical research and the development of new medicines is currently seeking investment on the investor-led equity crowdfunding platform SyndicateRoom.

Venomtech, winner of a Best of Britain Award last year, is recognised for its animal husbandry expertise and skills at 'milking' venom from venomous snakes, spiders and scorpions. The product is then carefully separated into its component parts, to be used in the research and development of new drugs.  In addition to supplying a vast array of venoms, Venomtech also carries out follow-up research for the pharmaceutical companies using their products.

Venomtech is a unique business in the UK - a venom library supplying a very wide range of source material for the pharmaceutical industry to help it carry out research and development of new medicines for all sorts of serious medical conditions. Surprisingly, venom from a range of snakes, spiders and other creatures is a crucial raw material in developing leading edge drugs.     

Steve Trim, founder of Venomtech said, "A variety of venoms have already produced blockbuster drugs in disease areas such as pain, cardiology, cancer and diabetes."

Innovation Birmingham Campus-based Incus Games seeks Kickstarter funding

Innovation Birmingham Campus-based Incus Games has launched a £28,000 Kickstarter campaign to help deliver its 'Three Monkeys' audio game, specifically designed for the visually impaired.

Three Monkeys is a fantasy role-play game that is fully playable without any form of visuals. It puts players in the shoes of Tobar: a blind hero who embarks on a journey through a dark, cursed land, where the sun has been ripped out of the sky. Using binaural audio techniques to define the gameplay, it brings to life a convincing 3D world that is navigated solely with your ears.

11 crowd-funding Kickstarter packages are available to buy, ranging from £1 to £1,000. Each package gives a reward, with the top packages enabling the backer to have involvement in the production of the game and voice a character. As with all Kickstarter projects, unless the funding target of £28,000 is reached by the campaign cut-off date of Thursday 12th March 2015, Incus Games will not receive any of the pledged funds.