IDENTIFYING STARTUPS THAT COULD RAISE ON CROWDCUBE

Crowdcube is the largest seed investor in the UK. The funding platform started with a goal of democratising investment and it’s helped 1,000 business raise over £800m.

The challenge was to identify startups and nurture relationships with founders before they start fundraising; to position Crowdcube as a partner that can support entrepreneurs’ ambitions.

We did this by giving their team an opportunity to support applicants through our events and running a lead generation campaign. 

Businesses from The Pitch 2018 campaign – including Fourex, WorkClub and Small Robot Company – went on to raise a combined total of £5.5m on Crowdcube. 

“The Pitch has been a great partner for us to find and fund quality UK startups. A key challenge is filtering away the noise to find the very best businesses – The Pitch has really helped us do that effectively.”

Jonathan Keeling, Director of Partnerships at Crowdcube

Identifying startups with potential

The Pitch application process captures 25 data points, from company age and turnover to founders’ key challenges. Making the value our partners provide clear leads to a high opt-in rate – 93% of applicants agree to share their data with sponsors.

Startups that take part in The Pitch have a strong interest in fundraising, with 91% of applicants saying they intend to raise investment in the next 12 months.

The below table shows the target raise of 2019 applicants.

Hosting small, invite-only events

While The Pitch applications are open, we work to identify leads that have strong potential. Running small, invite-only events during this period helps to increase the quality of information for founders and build relationships with Crowdcube’s team. 

At an event in August, we hosted some incredible speakers like Zzish COO Daisy Hill, Rockit founder Matt Dyson and Much Better Adventures founder Sam Bruce.

Involving alumni further strengthens our community; Bruce and Dyson were in The Pitch in 2014 and 2017 respectively. 

The event covered key elements of crowdfunding, looking at how to onboard key investors, leverage your community and manage your campaign once it’s live.

Running educational boot camps

The top 200 startups that entered The Pitch 2019 took part in part in free, day-long boot camps in Bristol, Manchester and London. The events give them a chance to work with a pitching coach, practice in front of their peers and network with like-minded founders. 

The programme had a net promoter score of 85 and fantastic feedback on social media.

Crowdcube’s fundraising managers run investment workshops, building relationships with startups, supporting the community and helping them identify suitable candidates.

The lead nurturing process

We work with the fundraising managers to book follow-up calls with startups that are strong prospects. The qualifying process includes looking at quantitative factors such as employee numbers, funding to date and revenue, as well as assessing their boot camp pitch.

The lead outreach is managed between Inkwell and Crowdcube’s team through a collaborative Google spreadsheet. Targets are identified, assigned to investment managers and we work with the startups to check details and their interest in crowdfunding before making an introduction.

We’ve learned that the boot camp workshops are key in giving Crowdcube a platform to provide value to participants, which increases conversion. Founders have normally met the fundraising manager we introduce them to at a previous event. The existing relationship makes the introduction process easier and means there’s a higher chance of them going on to raise on the platform.