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VC-backed crowdfunding platform InvestingZone set to launch

Ellie Pullen
31 May 2013

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UK crowdfunding platform InvestingZone, backed by venture firm E-Synergy and Better Capital founder and managing director Jon Moulton, is preparing to go live next week.

The new company has begun the task of recruiting investors prior to the launch of the platform. It reportedly has around a dozen companies already listing the details of their pitches.

Details of E-Synergy's investment in InvestingZone are unclear, however the investment firm has entered into a commitment with the platform to provide dealflow and carry out the screening of pitches before they are featured on the site.

Better Capital's Jon Moulton told the Telegraph earlier this week that entrepreneurial UK start-ups are going unfunded, but InvestingZone will bridge the gap between stagnant capital and companies in need of financing.

The platform acts as an online marketplace and allows investors to buy shares in unlisted companies at seed and early-stage levels, as well as in young businesses already generating revenue. InvestingZone offers the opportunity to invest directly in SMEs or commit capital to Enterprise Investment Schemes (EIS and Seed EIS).

Unlike the well-known Kickstarter - which treats any funding committed as a donation - InvestingZone was formed on the back of investment crowdfunding platforms, which offer shares in return for funding, much like the traditional route of investing in a company.

However, crowdfunding through InvestingZone will only be available to professional investors, which sets it firmly apart from other investment crowdfunding sites such as Seedrs and Crowdcube, sites that allow anyone to invest in featured companies at their own risk.

InvestingZone was founded by two of E-Synergy's directors, Jean Miller and Richard Brockbank. Miller is InvestingZone's CEO and also works as a member of E-Synergy's investment management committee. Brockbank is E-Synergy's finance director and chairman of the firm's investment management committee.

The company is currently holding a competition for the chance to win £1,000 - cash that is earmarked for investing in an SME via the platform - as an incentive for investors to join the site.