Why we are working so hard on listing FundedByMe
A few days ago, the shareholders of FundedByMe were summoned to an extraordinary general meeting where the main point on the agenda will be the decision to apply for a listing of FundedByMe on Nordic Growth Market (NGM) MTF.
A very clear majority of the votes (management, board and main shareholders) are unanimously for this proposal, which makes the question not so much about if as of why we want to take FundedByMe public. And especially now, in a slightly shaky market.
There are many reasons, but the answer is fundamentally philosophical: a company like FundedByMe should be owned by the market and we believe that it will thrive in a listed environment. And since we won’t do an initial public offering (IPO) in order to seek funds in connection with the listing — which is the common thing to do — the timing is more about our own readiness than anything else. Other reasons are of course because the company already has more than 1400 shareholders and we believe that many more would like to join once we’re listed. And now we are almost, almost there!
The last year has seen a great uptake in the number of crowdfunded companies as well as the amounts they have been funded with. And some of the cases that have used FundedByMe are doing really well. For instance the crowdfunded electric vehicle UNITI just reached Swedish unicorn status and so far (way before a potential exit for their shareholders) they can show a 10x valuation growth since their funding round on FundedByMe.
We furthermore see that crowdfunded companies are able to use their newfound shareholders as ambassadors for exposure and growth, something that traditionally costs a lot of the raised funds, and that the old — and totally wrong — notion that many shareholders would be a hassle to manage, has proven wrong in practice. Shareholders are an asset and the companies that treat their shareholders as such get great returns. Plus there are a plethora of tools in this day and age for shareholder management, so that old argument that many shareholders are hard to handle, falls flat.
(From a further philosophical perspective we should perhaps list shareholders as an asset in the balance sheet, but let’s leave that as an esoteric question for accountants to ponder over Christmas.)
In order to help our crowdfunding companies to improve their work with shareholders/ambassadors, we acquired this year, the IR and communications company Laika Consulting, which has proven to be the exact right thing to do from a customer perspective and strategic point of view. Offering more tools for funding, marketing, investor relations and much more is part of FundedByMe’s strategic plan of growth. We can and shall be able to help our customers from seed funding all the way to an IPO. We are a movement for better funding and as a group, we can offer quite a lot to our customers.
That we’re on the right track was furthermore verified earlier in 2018, in the much anticipated report from the government’s grassroot financing committee that takes a very positive view on crowdfunding.
In short, we see that crowdfunding — grassroots financing — has matured and established itself on the market and has become a strong contender, not to say preferred financing solution for many companies.
What does that say about the future for the number of listed companies? A lot.
FundedByMe is one of the world’s most crowdfunded companies. We have run several rounds and count our number of shareholders in thousands — more than many listed companies. And if we have taken the route from crowdfunding to a listing, why shouldn’t more companies follow in our tracks?
They will. And we’ll be there to help them. For us, the listing process has been an amazing learning experience, systematically implemented over several years, enabling us to further extend our services to all crowdfunders out there. If we can do it, so can basically all crowdfunders.
Of course, there are companies that never should crowdfund and never list, but in a world of social, connections and networks, there are many, many companies that should, with an ambition to list simply because it is the right business decision.
Our listing will put great pressure on us to become better — nothing beats transparency there — and will enable more people to follow our development, our efforts when we create the next-gen financing model. You are most welcome as observers, customers, and shareholders, or all of the above!
Written by:
Daniel Daboczy, Founder and CEO
Johan Jörgensen, Chairman of the board
