Crowdfunding firms Crowdcube and Seedrs announce plans to merge

By Megha Bhattacharya

British investment crowdfunding platform Crowdcube today announced a merger agreement with Seedrs with an aim to create one of the largest private equity marketplaces. The merger is expected to benefit investors with enhanced services and returns provided by Crowdcube and Seedrs’ investment platforms. Seedrs’ CEO, Jeff Kelisky, will assume the position of the CEO of the combined company while Darren Westlake, Crowdcube’s CEO and Co-Founder will take up the role of the Executive Chairman.

Darren Westlake, CEO and co-founder of Crowdcube, commented, “Equity crowdfunding has redefined how many ambitious businesses raise investment and engage with their customers. Today’s agreement is an incredibly exciting milestone that will benefit high growth businesses, their investors who believe in their vision and the wider entrepreneurial ecosystem that supports them. Together with Seedrs, we can accelerate plans to further expand in the UK and overseas, launch innovative new products and improve our customers’ experience.”

The combined company aims to offer improved products for making it easier for businesses to secure growth finance and for investors to select from a wider range of investment opportunities with better investment tools.

The companies stated that the merger will be structured as an acquisition by Crowdcube of all of the outstanding share capital of Seedrs Limited via scheme of arrangement. Existing Crowdcube shareholders and option holders will own 60% of the combined company, and existing Seedrs shareholders and option holders will own 40% of the combined company.

Jeff Kelisky, CEO of Seedrs, said, “We are both fintech pioneers that have challenged the landscape of capital raising in Europe, building marketplaces for private equity investment. We believe that you need to be a player of greater scale to serve companies and the investors who support them. Now is the right time to bring our strengths together, in order to meet our common mission to deliver a step-change in the accessibility and efficiency of private company investing. This will not only create value for ambitious companies and their investors, but also for the economies and communities that they serve. As we look to the future, we’ll be well-positioned to build on our combined strengths and create a powerful global private equity marketplace that will transform the ecosystem of equity finance globally.”

The merger is expected to be completed in late 2020/ early 2021.