June 03, 2017 at 10:02AM
LONDON — Revenue at crowdfunding platform Crowdcube grew by 48% to £3.9 million last year thanks to more, and bigger, deals.
Accounts filed with Companies House on Thursday show revenue jumped in the year to September 2016. The vast majority — £3.8 million — came from the UK, with less than £100,000 coming from Crowdcube's Spanish office.
Crowdcube continues to be loss making, accounts show, but losses were relatively stable. Crowdcube lost £5.3 million last year, compared to £5 million in 2015.
Crowdcube's CFO Bill Simmons told Business Insider over email: "Crowdcube’s increase in revenue is representative of our continued growth, as well as the growing popularity of equity crowdfunding, which for many is now the first choice when it comes to raising finance.
"A huge factor of our success has been the increase in later-stage, often VC-backed businesses, choosing Crowdcube as their partner to fund larger rounds."
Crowdcube hosted the biggest UK crowdfunding campaign of 2016 when the company raised £6.6 million for itself last September. Other notable campaigns include kids debit card goHenry raising £3.9 million in May and brewer Innis & Gunn raising £2.4 million in November (although the later campaign was not covered in the accounting period.)
Simmons adds: "With over £23 million having been raised on Crowdcube in Q1 2017 alone, we’re on track to maintain our upwards growth trajectory."
Founded in 2011, Crowdcube is the UK's biggest crowdfunding platform, allowing private companies to raise funds by selling equity or issuing bonds to the "crowd" — retail investors who invest as little as £10. Crowdcube raised over £80 million for startups in 2016 and has over 390,000 people registered on its platform.
Accounts show staff numbers rose from 54 to 85 last year and Crowdcube spent £4.5 million on staffing costs, up from £2.8 million in 2015. The highest paid director, who is not named, took home £132,875.
Last month Crowdcube announced plans to expand across Europe, hiring staff in Paris and Amsterdam. The expansion is part of a tie-up with WeWork, which will see Crowdcube pitch its financing solution to startups based in the coworking space.
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