Feral Horses surpasses target on equity crowdfunding site Seedrs
Last Monday, Feral Horses launched an investment campaign on the equity crowdfunding site Seedrs. As of the time of writing, we’ve surpassed our £100K target — a spectacular achievement!
For those new to Seedrs or equity crowdfunding in general, here’s a quick summary.
Equity crowdfunding
Most have heard of reward-based crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter, GoFundMe and Indiegogo. Essentially, these offer a means of selling an idea or cause directly to members of the public without the need for the budget or status of an established brand or organization. Absolutely anyone can set up a campaign, covering all manner of products and outputs, from food, film, gadgets, charities and events, all the way to niche and bizarre offerings like combat kitchenware or a Doctor Who themed rap album.
Fewer though are aware of equity crowdfunding, which rather than offering a specific deliverable or outcome in exchange for a pledge, offers shares in a company. So, for example, the £30 that would have scored a copy of Moby Dick translated into Japanese emojis could instead equate to a 0.005% share of a startup. And as with any shareholder, an investor is then entitled to trade and sell these shares, or in principle receive dividends (depending on the company’s development and activities).
On first reading about Seedrs, I thought of it as a bit like a ‘grassroots’ stockbroker: a no-nonsense facilitator for someone like me who has never directly invested in companies. On further reflection though, I realized a more accurate assessment is that Seedrs effectively replaces the stockbroker, and with it simplifies the often confusing and overwhelming process of investing in a company in the traditional sense. And this is exactly what makes equity crowdfunding such a disruptive idea.
Seedrs: disrupting startup investments
Seedrs was developed by Jeff Lynn and Carlos Silva as part of an MBA project at Oxford University’s Said School and launched in July 2012. Since, it has facilitated thousands of investments worth hundreds of millions of pounds, and in 2017 was named “the most active UK funder in private companies” by Beauhurst, a leading researcher of startups and fast-growing companies.
Major successes include digital banking alternative Revolut raising £3.8m and trading app Bux exceeding €1.1m in 24 hrs.
Seedrs’ growth reflects a shift in the behaviour of the next generation of investors. Research suggests that millennials are increasingly likely to invest in stocks, even though they generally have reduced capital, e.g. due to the impact of student loans. Opportunities to invest smaller amounts (‘micro-investments’) in alternative and non-traditional companies has also become more attractive; those more aligned with their values, interests and modern savvy than established blue chips or financial institutions.
I think Seedrs and similar platforms offer a new and powerful mode of financial engagement in the online age. Alongside the like, share, shout-out and rallying cry, we can now also easily invest in the businesses we think are worthy.
Feral Horses & Seedrs
Such a forward-thinking and disruptive investment platform as Seedrs was a perfect fit for Feral Horses, given our equally disruptive ambitions for the art market. Yet there are also exciting parallels in the investment model.
Just as Seedrs has reinvented the traditional stockbroker role and process and so opened up share buying to anyone with a bank account and internet connection, Feral Horses has done the same for art buying. What’s more, we’ve both developed the idea of a secondary market that enables investors to more easily trade and sell the shares they acquire.
I think our success on Seedrs therefore goes beyond just hitting the target — in a way, the approach itself has also been affirmed.
For more details on Feral Horses’ investment campaign, click here.
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Investing involves risks, including loss of capital, illiquidity, lack of dividends and dilution, and should be done only as part of a diversified portfolio. Investments should only be made by investors who understand these risks.
Feral Horses is the Stock Exchange for Art. We are now raising £100,000 through equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs.
Curious? Discover our campaign here.
