In Brief:
- Circle has invested $10.5 million in Crowdcube’s funding round.
- Circle is taking its second entry into the world of crowdfunding.
- Crowdcube is the first platform to use the new European standards.
Circle Internet Financial, LLC, the owner and operator of the U.S. startup fundraising site SeedInvest, announced on November 23rd that it led Crowdcube’s $13.5 million funding round with a $10.5 million investment.
In comparison to other major economies such as the United States and the United Kingdom, the European Commission recently stated that the EU’s crowdfunding business is underdeveloped.
On November 10th, it passed a new law establishing uniform norms throughout the European Union. Crowdcube intends to use the new funding to take advantage of the shifting regulatory landscape, allowing it to launch more quickly.
Balderton Capital and Molten Ventures, both existing investors, also participated in the round.
Darren Westlake, Crowdcube’s CEO and Co-Founder stated, “combining Circle’s strategic investment with our decade of knowledge and experience of capital raising in Europe, Crowdcube is extremely well-positioned to capitalize on our first-mover advantage into Europe’s high growth investment market. Capital raising and private company investing have never been so exciting.”
He further added, “we’re considering a crowd round to offer Crowdcube’s community of investors to participate in our round, alongside Circle, supporting our growth as Europe’s preferred private investment marketplace.”
Circle is making its second step into the crowdfunding arena. In 2019, the firm purchased SeedInvest, a New York-based firm.
Also recently, the company formed a venture capital fund to promote early-stage blockchain startups.
