2021: A year to remember!
I recently chatted with Simon Thomsen from Startup Daily about the tremendous performance of the CSF regime, and Birchal in 2021.
Despite the obvious challenges, there have been so many milestones achieved this year that it really should be one to remember, and not forget.
In 2021, Birchal hosted 59 successful CSF offers, raising a total of over $53m from over 30 thousand investors. A truly stunning result, representing a 165% increase on 2020.
We’ll be unpacking the CSF industry data for 2021 in our next edition of the CSF Yearbook in January (stay tuned), but have highlighted some significant milestones and achievements for Birchal in 2021 below.
Deals are getting bigger
One of the most encouraging trends we’ve observed this year is that the average deal size on Birchal has increased by 54% in 2021, to $906k. In total, Birchal hosted 20 CSF offers that raised more than $1m; and 6 that raised more than $2m.
Birchal’s top 5 CSF offers for 2021 were:
- Zero Co — $5m from over 3 thousand investors in under 7 hours (October)
- Montu — $3.5m from 1490 investors in its second CSF offer in two days (November)
- Thrive — $3m from 525 investors in three days, the equal largest and fastest at the time (February)
- Coinstash — $2.8m from over 1300 investors (April)
- Unhedged — $2.3m from 980 investors (June)
More professional investors are getting involved in CSF
A common misconception of CSF is that raising from the crowd is a lesser alternative, not interesting to professional investors, and might make a company uninvestible down the track.
This is a myth, and it’s been busted!
In February, we hosted Thrive’s successful $3m CSF offer, which reached its maximum target in just three days in a round that saw professional investors including a significant family office and several notable VCs investing alongside retail investors.
This was followed by ZeroCo’s record breaking $5m CSF offer in October, hitting its maximum (and the most allowed under CSF) in less than seven hours. An additional $6m was invested by SquarePeg on substantially the same terms as CSF investors.
We’re observing a marked increase in professional investor participation in CSF offers, and CSF funded companies. This is really encouraging, and consistent with our observations of the UK equity crowdfunding industry at a similar stage in its development.
Activated Nutrients becomes the first CSF funded company to hit the ASX (ASX: BIO)
Activated Nutrients (Biome Australia Ltd) raised over $330k on Birchal in 2019 from over 150 investors at a pre-money valuation of $6.8m.
In November, Biome became the first CSF funded company to hit the ASX, successfully completing an oversubscribed $8m IPO.
This is a significant milestone for the CSF industry, and Birchal, highlighting one of the many possibilities available for investors to realise a return from backing a business they believe in at an early stage through CSF.
Looking ahead
It’s been a challenging but rewarding year, and we’re super excited for what’s in store in 2022.
We simplify fundraising so that forward thinking businesses can build communities of engaged supporters, and get back to building the future we all want to have.
Thank you to all the businesses that trusted us to host them in 2021, the investors that backed them, and our many partners and friends for all of your support. We wish you all a safe and restful holiday season!
We’ll be taking some time to refresh and recharge over the holiday season, but back and ready for action from 10 January 2022.
If you’d like to get a head start on your fundraising journey in 2022, check out our helpful resources, and book a time to chat with us in the new year! — https://www.birchal.com/raise-investment
