Circle leads $13.5 million Crowdcube raise to build out its investment marketplace
UK crowdfunding platform Crowdcube has raised $13.5 million from payments infrastructure company Circle in a bid to expand into Europe, according to a press release. Existing investors Balderton Capital and Molten Ventures also participated in the round.
The European Commission recently acknowledged that the crowdfunding market in the EU is underdeveloped compared to other major economies such as the US and the UK. On November 10, it enacted new regulation on uniform rules across the European territory. Crowdcube hopes to use the fresh funding to capitalize on this new regulatory environment, accelerating its launch there.
"Combining Circle’s strategic investment with our decade of knowledge and experience of capital raising in Europe, Crowdcube is extremely well-positioned to capitalize on our first-mover advantage into Europe’s high growth investment market," said Crowdcube CEO Darren Westlake.
This is the Circle's second investment in the crowdfunding space. In 2019, the company acquired New York-based SeedInvest. However, later in February 2020, The Block reported that the payments infrastructure company was seeking a buyer for its acquisition.
More recently the company has launched a VC fund to support early-stage startups in the blockchain sector.
