šŸš€ Crowdfunding graveyard āš°ļø

Did you try making a complaint to crowdcube and the ombudsman?

Using Resolver makes it easier - Crowdcube Complaints | Resolver UK Iā€™d just do it, shouldnā€™t take much time, worth a shot.

I used to think that was the case but after a re-read of HMRC blurb and other Interweb commentary, I believe you can claim your effective losses (minus the original EIS allowance) at your marginal rate. I have successfully done this.

I see, thanks.
I sent letter to HMRC but I havenā€™t got any reply yet. How long does it take for them to reply.

Now thereā€™s a Q. No idea and even Mystic Meg firing on all cylinders would struggle. I have claimed losses as part of my annual Self Assessment. I generally attach a 1 page spreadsheet to the SA with all S/EIS investments and any losses for the relevant tax year. Done 2 years in a row now and tax refund is processed in a matter of days.

2 Likes

My small Gripit investment isnā€™t looking too promising at the moment.

Dragonsā€™ Den success story firm risks collapse Dragons' Den success story firm risks collapse - BBC News

4 Likes

I actually use to work on the same estate as GripIt and invested on CrowdCube. That recent investors update did not look promising at all. Weā€™ll see what happens.

I never saw the Gripit campaign, but their product doesnā€™t look bad. I might have been tempted if Iā€™d seen it. Just goes to show that a good idea doesnā€™t guarantee success

It also goes to show that the ā€œexpertsā€ on Dragons Den are just as likely to get it wrong as us lot

Itā€™s literally venture capital. You expect a majority of investments to drop to 0, and the winners more than make up for it. I guarantee experienced venture capitalists on Dragonā€™s Den (and their teams, since they donā€™t do this alone by any measure) succeed a hell of a lot more than people using crowdcube/seedrs. Both are awful platforms to take money off retail investors for far, far less scrutiny than any institution would expect.

Iā€™ve not touched either, and I strongly recommend that no-one else (without significant knowledge of the PE/VC process and cycle) does. The level of information they have to provide is pitiful, the answers to questions are pitiful, and the due diligence opportunities are weak. If you want to get into private equity or venture capital, look for ETFs (several on FT) ran by teams who go through about a thousand times more due diligence than anything on Seedrs/Crowdcube.

11 Likes

Itā€™s true that thereā€™s loads of rubbish on Crowdcube and seedrs etc. and you should only invest if you can afford to lose the lot. But I think there is the odd potential winner in there. I havenā€™t had any go bust yet and I tripled my investment in the one company I backed that sold

Obviously I backed Freetrade and I think that investment will do even better

7 Likes

Youā€™re a mildly successful venture capitalist! You have the right attitude - the money is gone until they exit.

Downside of CC/Seeders? You get no say in the exit. You get no say in anything, actually. You can trust that listed PE/VC companies definitely do get a say in the companies they acquire/fund.

4 Likes

Thatā€™s true, on my one succesful exit, to be honest I thought they sold too early, it seemed like the business was just taking off. Although maybe they made the right decision if there was any doubt over having the cash flow to keep growing

I think I saw GripIt on Dragonā€™s Den - was it the product invented by the lad who would muck around inventing things in his granddadā€™s shed?

Sugru is another great example of this.

2 Likes

I think Paraic Begley, the COO of Sugru went over to Gripit after Sugru failed.

One more down .

Dear Investors,
I hope youā€™re well. I am writing to advise that our final creditors have agreed to terms and we are now weeks away from transferring assets out of the business. We have some final pieces in stock, and so I would like to offer these to you with further discounts. If you would like any of these please use code 50%2019 to get an additional discount.

On the second week of November, all remaining stock will be transferred out of the business so that we can process nill value certificates for those claiming back SEIS and EIS may do so.

The brand IP will be transferred to the founding team as no buyer has been found.

Thank you for your patience once again.

Many thanks,
Lorenzo Curci

1 Like

Bonaverde, a hardware coffee roasting startup has filed for Insolvency. Raised Ā£1.3M at a Ā£26M valuation on Seedrs in 2017, after Kickstarter and Indiegogo in 2013. An interesting idea, better than the Juicero anyway, apart from the fires that is.

The company and founder have published post-mortems with more candour than the failures that just disappear without notice. Hardware is hard.

https://www.bonaverde.com/pages/bonaverde-files-for-insolvency

https://www.bonaverde.com/blogs/thebonaverdejournal/the-rocky-path-to-almost-glory

1 Like

Guilty of investing in this one. Seedrs havenā€™t said anything, someone on the forums picked it up. I have to say, my failures are almost all exclusively on Seedrs and they are complete rotters at telling you what is going on. I donā€™t hold them responsible but I think they should provide the feedback and information flow for whatā€™s going on. Also, simple statements like whether you can right off the loss against tax etc.

Although, in happier news, one of my early companies is currently shopping itself around the USā€¦ fingers crossed I may finally see some cashā€¦

If they transition to a holding company rather than going bust completely would you miss out on EIS loss relief (if applicable) ?

Iā€™ll buy the shares off you for Ā£0 if you want to claim loss relief :slight_smile:

Fortunately I donā€™t have any, I was just wondering

Another hardware company, called Den Automation, has or is nearing administration. Den makes smart switches, and had several rounds of crowdfunding via Seeders (7 or 8 rounds) so it should have had a large base of investors. Many things went wrong with the company but worst was investors were kept in the dark for a long time.

2 Likes