Type of site Equity crowdfunding Website www.syndicateroom.com Launched 21 September 2013 | Available in English Commercial Yes | |
Headquarters Cambridge, United Kingdom | ||
SyndicateRoom is a UK online crowdfunding platform that invented the investor-led model of equity crowdfunding, headquartered in Cambridge, and authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (formerly the FSA). SyndicateRoom made history in 2016 by becoming the first crowdfunding platform to offer public market investment opportunities after being accepted as a member company of the London Stock Exchange.
Contents
Since launching in September 2013, SyndicateRoom has raised c. £60 million for more than 75 companies (July 2016). Notable companies that have raised on the platform include: Salty, the first-ever equity crowdfunded Hollywood film, directed by Simon West; Mill Residential REIT, the world's first crowdfunded IPO; and Axol Biosciences, which uses Nobel Prize-winning technology to produce stem cells from human blood and skin cells that can then be turned into cells for scientific research, potentially removing the need for animal testing.
Approximately a third of the companies that list on SyndicateRoom are from the life sciences industry, an unusual statistic given that the vast majority of crowdfunded businesses are B2C.
Investor-led model
The investor-led crowdfunding model differentiates itself from the usual company-led model by necessitating the participation of an experienced business angel in every round. This 'lead investor' conducts due diligence on the investment opportunity and negotiates the economic terms of the investment before contributing at least 25% of the round. The intended benefit is that any less experienced investors will 1) have the reassurance of knowing that an experienced investor has already assessed the round and 2) invest on the same economic terms as the lead investor.
History
SyndicateRoom was founded by Gonçalo de Vasconcelos (CEO) and Tom Britton (CTO) on 21 September 2013. The pair met by chance at a networking event in Cambridge. Both de Vasconcelos and Britton studied at the Cambridge Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge where they were awarded their Master of Business Administration in 2010 and 2012 respectively.
Awards
Entrepreneurs
Companies offering equity via the SyndicateRoom platform have ranged from E-Go – an innovative light aeroplane which is the first to be designed and built in the UK for decades to Lightpoint Medical – ground-breaking technology that pinpoints and diagnoses cancer in real-time during surgery.