Hokkei, a new Cardiff based restaurant launched by two MasterChef finalists Dale Williams and Larkin Cen, is looking to raise £275,000 through the Seedrs equity crowdfunding platform. Williams and Cen are looking to share 25 per cent of the business which aims to flip Chinese takeaway food on its head and remove the stigma attached to takeaways being unhealthy and unadventurous.
The campaign, which is already live on Seedrs has drawn the attention of more than 160 investors including Go Compare co-founder, Hayley Parsons, who has invested £50,000 of her own money for around 4.5 per cent of the business. With £225,000 already committed to the campaign, Seedrs is on course to smash through the £1 million milestone. Indeed upon completion of this round the total amount invested in Cymru based businesses through the Seedrs platform will be more than £1 million after six successful fundraising rounds. This includes Veeqo, a Swansea based tech startup, which previously raised £700,000 through the crowdfunding platform including investment from New Look founder, Tom Singh.
Additionally, Fuzmo, an image sharing service aimed at animal lovers, initially turned down an offer on BBC’s Dragon’s Den and instead raised investment through Seedrs. Jeff Lynn, CEO at Seedrs said: “We’re proud to be on the cusp of raising £1 million for Wales based businesses. Wales has become a hotbed for innovative start-ups and these businesses have selected Seedrs to raise investment because of our ‘equity crowdfunding done properly’ approach.
“We’re hoping to use this milestone, and our new relationship with Impact Innovations, as a launch pad to raise more capital for Welsh businesses and believe that equity crowdfunding can help these companies to fulfil their growth ambitions.” The UK alternative finance market is predicted to grow to £4.4 billion in 20151 up from £1.7 billion in 2014 as businesses increasingly look to source more efficient ways to raise capital.
Between 2012 and 2014 the equity crowdfunding sector alone grew by 410%. Against this backdrop, in the past three years Seedrs has become the most successful equity crowdfunder in Europe, funding 110 deals in 2014.
Ends
Notes to editors
1 Nesta: The UK Alternative Finance Industry Report 2014:
About Seedrs
Seedrs is the largest crowdfunding platform in Europe to focus solely on equity investments. It allows all types of investors to invest as little or as much as they like (from £/€ 10 up) in businesses they believe in and share in their success. And it allows ambitious businesses in all sectors to raise capital and build community through an efficient, online process. Seedrs has funded nearly 200 deals to date, and it is growing 15% month-on-month. Details on its recent activity levels are available at .
All investments made through Seedrs offer voting shares to investors and use professional-grade subscription agreements. This ensures that investors get the same level of protection that angel investors and venture capitalists enjoy. Seedrs is open to investors and entrepreneurs across Europe, and it plans to launch in the United States later in 2015.
Seedrs is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority. It was the first equity crowdfunding platform in the world to gain regulatory approval.
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