Just One Month In, Crowdfunding Platform Seedrs Sees Three Startups Funded

Investments ranged from £10 – £8,000.

If you weren’t convinced that there was pent up demand for a crowdfunding platform in the UK where anybody can play the role of Dave McClure (I jest, a little), then think again. Seedrs, which makes it easy to invest in startups and has much coveted regulatory approval, has announced that just one month after launch, three companies have already secured their target funding.

PR-driven bragging aside, however, Seedrs is also sharing some interesting numbers exclusive to TechCrunch today. Numbers that shed a little more light on how equity-based crowdfunding might play out in the UK and perhaps further afield. But first, let’s dig into the three startups that have been funded by the platform.

London-based Digital Spin, which aims to make CAPTCHAs that are “engaging, simple and secure” — yes, CAPTCHAs! — has raised £60,000 for a 15% equity share of the company at a post-money valuation of £400k. Breaking that down further, Seedrs tells us that this amounts to 70 investors, with the average investment per investor being £857.14 or a median investment of £200. Investments ranged from £10 – £8,000.

PlayBrighter, a Wales-based startup that makes games “to help teachers teach, and to help pupils learn” has raised £30,000 for 8% equity at a post-money valuation of £375k. 22 investors participated, with an average investment amount per investor of £1,363.63, and a median investment amount per investor of £100.00. The investments ranged from £10 – £26,480. However, of note, Seedrs tell us that a single angel investor took up ~90% of this round (see below).

Lastly, Satago, based in Oxford, with its crowd-sourced data offering that aims to show how late or early business customers pay their bills, has raised £30,000 for a 14% equity at a post-money valuation of £214,286. The number of investors were 61, with average investment amount per investor £491.80, and median investment amount per investor at £130.00. Investments ranged from £10 – £5,000.

Zooming out a bit further, Seedrs says it’s amassed roughly 3,000 members, of which only 1,372 are authorised to invest. That’s because members also consist of entrepreneurs (who are presumably looking at Seedrs as a source of funding), while others have not yet taken the investment authorisation questionnaire.

Interestingly, the average number of investments per investor is 3.3, so they aren’t necessarily signing up just to take a punt on one particular startup.

In total to date, funds invested/deposited are £222,000. “This means that beyond the £120,000 invested in the three deals above, a further £102,000 has been invested in other deals that haven’t yet closed or has been deposited but not yet allocated”, explains Seedrs.