Penningtons Manches advises crowdfunding pioneer Seedrs on its £4 million investment from Woodford

Posted: 14/11/2017

Penningtons Manches’ corporate team in Oxford has advised leading equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs on its new funding round, with a follow on investment of £4 million by Woodford Investment Management through two of its managed funds: Woodford Patient Capital Trust and Omnis Income and Growth Fund. Seedrs has also raised a further £6 million from over 2,000 investors using its own crowdfunding platform. The aggregate investment values Seedrs at £50 million on a post-money basis.

Woodford previously backed Seedrs with £6 million during 2015 in a Series A round led by Woodford Patient Capital Trust plc and Augmentum Capital. The most recent valuation represents a 27.2% increase in share price from the last fundraising in 2015.

The additional funds will be utilised to deploy new product capabilities, boost sales and marketing and launch new strategic partnerships. Seedrs is one of the largest equity crowdfunding platforms in the world, with nearly £300 million invested on its platform and over 520 deals completed since its launch in 2012. It was recently named the most active investor in UK private companies by independent research firm Beauhurst.

The Penningtons Manches team was led by corporate partner David Tighe assisted by Attilio Leccisotti. David Tighe said: “Seedrs is a fantastic client and, having seen considerable growth over the last few years, it’s now in a great position to pursue its vision to revolutionise the market for early stage investing.”

Jeff Lynn, Seedrs’ executive chairman and co-founder, said: “Having worked on our previous funding rounds, David and his team were able to move quickly and commercially to secure this funding. We value the experience Penningtons Manches has in the crowdfunding sector and appreciate its outstanding support.”

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