2022.02.01. – Tokeportal own content

Updated: 2022.11.08

UPDATE:

You hear less about investing in crowdfunding platforms than you do about raising huge amounts of capital on them. This summer was not uneventful in this respect, as Invesdor’s own campaign saw a huge demand and as a result, a total of €2.1 million was raised in just 72 hours. This was one of the most successful campaigns of its kind in Europe. The funds raised will be used to launch two new markets.

This interest proves once again that Europe believes in crowdfunding.

Many crowdfunding providers are opting to raise capital through their own platform – similarly to stock exchanges listing their shares on their own markets. Seedrs in the UK, one of the leading platform providers, Funderbeam in Estonia, Wefunder in the US, and FundedByMe in Sweden have all launched crowdfunding rounds on their own sites, relying on the power of the community, and their own ecosystem. Fortunately, however, we don’t have to look too far to find similar successes: in 2021, neighbouring Romanian Seedblink raised a significant amount of capital, relying primarily on its own user base. Raising capital “in-house” has significant advantages over traditional methods, which Tokeportal is looking to leverage in 2022.

One of the first crowdfunding platforms was the UK’s Seedrs, now the largest platform in Europe, which raised nearly €4.7 million at a valuation of €33 million in 2015, 4 years after its launch. Since then, it has raised further capital in several rounds. In 2016, Estonian crowdfunding provider Funderbeam launched a €150-400K campaign on its platform at less than half the value of the British competitor, with a valuation of €13.9 million, which the platform has since raised to €33.5 million.

Swedish platform FundedByMe also achieved significant success in 2017. FundedByMe’s equity crowdfunding round raised a total of nearly €1.1 million in return for more than 6% equity. The Swedish startup closed its first cash-flow positive month in 2017 and already showed significant successes prior to its funding round, partnering with listed companies and expanding internationally. FundedByMe is now listed on the Nordic NGM stock exchange: its IPO was in 2019 at a valuation of over €23 million. Its current market capitalisation exceeds €67 million.

Italian Crowdfundme has also achieved success on the stock exchange, having organised its IPO days after FundedByMe’s IPO at a company value of nearly €2.8 million. Founded in 2013, the crowdfunding platform has a current market capitalisation of more than €7.1 million.

While the crowdfunding rounds of the aforementioned platforms have achieved significant results, signalling the growing popularity of alternative financing, their successes are dwarfed by the amount of capital raised by Crowdcube and Wefunder. Crowdcube’s equity crowdfunding campaign, launched in 2018, raised a total of nearly €10m in return for a 9.7% equity for its investors. The investment round took place in 2018 at a €87m valuation.

However, the lead was taken by US-based Wefunder, which raised a total of €17m from more than 6,600 investors in its record-breaking 2021 campaign. The crowdfunding round was launched to prepare for the opportunities offered by the new European legislation, the ECSP Regulation, which aids the expansion of the European crowdfunding market. The round was successfully financed at a €133 million valuation.

The biggest regional success story of 2021 was the crowdfunding round of Romanian platform Seedblink, which managed to raise €1.1 million. The crowd capital was part of Seedblink’s Series A investment round, which together with venture capital and private equity investors, exceeded €2.8 million. The platform, which focuses on tech startups, started its operations a year before Tokeportal in 2019, with a lot more capital and many VCs supporting the platform by including their investments in the portfolio offerings. The aforementioned fundraising round was launched at a €12m valuation.

Crowdfunding rounds not only raise capital but also contribute significantly to brand building and popularity. Moreover, they are a great way to reward and increase user loyalty.

At the beginning of 2022, Tokeportal also launched its own equity crowdfunding round. In order to take advantage of the new market opportunities offered by the ECSPR, we need to expand capacity and grow as dynamically as possible. Our objectives include strengthening the Tokeportal brand, promoting crowdfunding, education, stimulating collaboration with angel investors, preparing for IPO and regional expansion. Tokeportal is looking for €85-140K in return for a 3.85-6.25% equity. Our current valuation is €2.1 million, a fraction of international competitors’ valuation.