Seedrs is one of the most prominent equity crowdfunding platforms in the UK and has financed businesses to the tune of over £400 million since its launch. Here, we look at the companies that met their target on the platform in October 2018.

TruRating:

How much raised: £1,852,611

Number of investors: 356

Who are the investors: Investors on crowdfunding site Seedrs

For what: The money raised will be used to help achieve its break-even point in 2019

• TruRating is revolutionising consumer insight, using point of sale to collect mass, accurate feedback
• Uses both an in-store and online point of payment to ask every customer a single question
• Achieve 90 per cent response rates in-store, and 50 per cent online
• Collected 38 million ratings and 2bn data points from over 2,000 merchant outlets in 6 countries
• Raised £21 million in investment to date

Smarterly:

How much raised: £1,602,400

Number of investors: 535

Who are the investors: Investors on crowdfunding site Seedrs

For what: The money raised will be used to accelerate sales and marketing activities

• Smarterly is helping people save and invest directly from payroll
• Promoting the benefits of healthy savings habits via people’s employers
• Employers promote Smarterly as an employee benefit – staff can save directly from their pay
• Automated service
• Now have over 25 corporate clients engaged, including Samsung, OVO Energy and Rolls Royce Engineering

Welendus:

How much raised: £993,104

Number of investors: 540

Who are the investors: Investors on crowdfunding site Seedrs

For what: The money raised will be spent on adding new operational team members and continued development to add new functions

• Welendus is a P2P short-term lender shaking up the short-term credit market
• FCA approved
• Offers short-term loans of about 100 days
• Helping financial inclusion
• Investors are able to choose their own returns from 5 per cent to 15 per cent
• Minimum investment threshold of £100
• Business is live, trading and revenue generating
• Over 13,000 users and 850 issued loans
• Funded over £200,000 of short-term loans

Further reading on crowdfunding

• Top 10 crowdfunding platforms for businesses in 2018
• 10 steps to crowdfunding your business
• The secret to raising six-figures via crowdfunding

ManiLife:

How much raised: £744,727

Number of investors: 442

Who are the investors: Investors on crowdfunding site Seedrs

For what: The money raised will primarily be used to expand the team

• A craft peanut butter brand focused on masterfully roasting and blending the best peanuts
• Comes from one farm in Argentina, with no added products
• Once imported, the team roast, blitz and blend fresh weekly in their London ManiFactory
• Sold in over 1,200 stores
• Stocked in many renowned high street retailers – this includes Holland & Barrett, Marks & Spencer, Booths, Selfridges with many more to come including Ocado
• Food service partnerships that will feed ManíLife to roughly 750,000 people/year – this includes Gousto, HelloFresh, Mindful Chef, CrossTown Doughnuts, Mae Deli and Pod Restaurants
• Winner of 2 Quality Food Awards including a ‘Gold Q’ for ‘Best in Ambient’=

Tagsmart:

How much raised: £504,133

Number of investors: 296

Who are the investors: Investors on crowdfunding site Seedrs

For what: The money raised will be spent on launching an online trading platform for trusted art

• Tagsmart is the company behind the pioneering application of synthetic DNA tags to authenticate artworks
• Generate Certificates of Authenticity, which resolve recurring problems of fraud, forgery and loss
• As of May 2018 had over 23,000 artworks on the platform from nearly 250 artists
• Only 8 per cent of the global art market is online
• Now building a trading platform that enable buys to buy and sell verified artworks
• Featured in the 2017 Deloitte Art & Finance Report

Trezeo:

How much raised: £465,854

Number of investors: 344

Who are the investors: Investors on crowdfunding site Seedrs

For what: The money raised will be primarily used primarily to onboard and service initial pilot customers and partners

• New fintech startup focused on delivering financial stability to self-employed workers
• Helping out the gig economy
• Trezeo is a business account aimed at the self-employed providing customers with a regular, defined income
• Trezeo’s income smoothing service turns unpredictable income streams into reliable and regular payments, with no interest or hidden fees involved
• However, time and time again, the key challenge facing the self-employed is uncertainty around security of income and fluctuating earnings, which have wider financial implications around savings and accessing financial products, most notably getting access to affordable credit

Maison Sport:

How much raised: £408,839

Number of investors: 96

Who are the investors: Investors on crowdfunding site Seedrs

For what: The money raised will primarily be used to impact customer retention and word of mouth revenues

• Maison Sport is a marketplace connecting skiers with independent ski instructors – a next generation ski school
• Available in over 130 ski resorts across France, Switzerland and Italy
• Customers can choose an instructor based on real reviews, whilst saving 50 per cent on the lesson price
• Over 350 instructors signed up and live
• Nominated for the 2017 World Travel Awards Travel Innovation Award

Candy Mechanics:

How much raised: £408,650

Number of investors: 240

Who are the investors: Investors on crowdfunding site Seedrs

For what: The money raised will be used to fuel expansion through partnering with major chocolate brands

• Candy Mechanics is partnering with chocolate brands to bring 3D personalised chocolate gifts to market
• Consumers can now design and fist their own chocolate creations
• Offers partners the opportunity to enter the fast growing personalised gifting marketing place both online and in store
• Lead product is a 3D chocolate lollipop of a face created in a few minutes
• Also produces luxury chocolate gift cards

Fancy Dress Worldwide:

How much raised: £313,557

Number of Investors: 203

Who are the investors: Investors on crowdfunding site Seedrs

For what: The money raised will be primarily raised to grow stock and purchase crucial equipment

• Fancy Dress Worldwide aims to provide customers with the best quality costumes and accessories via the fastest shipping possible
• Over 380,000 orders
• Orders from over 80 countries
• 20,000 products
• Revenues of £1.76 million
• Founded by the man behind the Fancy Fresher pack

ARION:

How much raised: £264,037

Number of investors: 596

Who are the investors: Investors on crowdfunding site Seedrs

For what: The money raised will be used to initiate its next product batch and to expand its marketing focus into the US

• ARION is the next-generation wearable that helps runners improve their technique to run faster, longer and safer
• Ultra-thin pressure-sensitive insoles slip unnoticed into almost any running show, and transforms it into a running lab
• ARION’s AI coach analyses technique and identifies strengths, weaknesses and injury risks
• Easy to understand real-time feedback
• Sold more than 1,000 unites in 1st year of launching

The Brook:

How much raised: £169,484

Number of investors: 293

Who are the investors: Investors on crowdfunding site Seedrs

For what: The money raised will be used to set up a production kitchen and develop the product

• The Brook makes plant-based delicious and nutritionally rich meals for the health-conscious
• Creators of a number of vegan restaurants
• Now looking to launch a range of ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook meals
• Voted as the 2018 Time Out Best Restaurant in Hackney
• More than 5 years experience serving thousands of customers