NCFA Canada | Craig Asano | July 27, 2017

Thursday 27 July, London: Beauhurst, the data provider, has released its latest quarterly report on investment in British high-growth companies and found that the first six months of 2017 has been a record period for investment. The report, "The Deal", analyses all equity investment into UK-headquartered unlisted companies between 1 January - 30 June 2017.  The report includes detailed data on equity crowdfunding volume and comparison of platforms.

Summary Highlights include:

• H1 2017 has seen an increase from H2 2016 in the total amount invested by 74.7%, to a record £3.03bn.
• This year has already seen two of the three biggest-ever deals, into virtual reality firm Improbable (£389m) and e-commerce site FarFetch (£313m).
• The number of deals involving non-UK funds rose 26.7% from the previous quarter.
• Deal numbers remain stagnant, increasing by only 0.6%, a 54% decrease from the same period in 2016.
• Later stage companies saw a decline in deal numbers of 7.6% from the previous half.
• The number of deals involving funds headquartered outside the UK continued to grow, rising by 26.7%
  from the previous quarter (due to a cited increase in interest from China and Japan).

Equity Crowdfunding Activity

• Deal numbers from equity crowdfunding platforms were up 2.6% from H2, but fell by 18% from Q1 to Q2.
• Total 71 equity crowdfunding deals done in Q2, the stage of the companies were as follows:  65% Seed, 31% Venture, 4% Growth.
• £48m of equity crowdfunding in Q1 went to Seed deals (43%), Venture firms received (52%) and Growth companies (5%).

• UK Crowdcube raised the most investment with £18.86m second to Seedrs at just over £11m UK pounds.
•  Average deal size on Crowdcube is £698k

Download the full report --> here

The National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA Canada) is a cross-Canada non-profit actively engaged with both social and investment crowdfunding stakeholders across the country. NCFA Canada provides education, research, leadership, support, and networking opportunities to over 1600+ members and works closely with industry, government, academia, community and eco-system partners and affiliates to create a strong and vibrant crowdfunding industry in Canada. Learn more at ncfacanada.org.