https://eastlondonliquorcompany.com/ has gone into administration
Least we still get a lifetime 25% discount on their spirits, just glad I didn’t put much into this one. Still surprised as they appeared to be doing good things, with their upcoming Ocado listing and releasing a whiskey cask offering……but guess that’s the environment small independent firms operate in with such tight margins, one minute your up and the next your not.
They could have offered shares to investors in NewCo, as some other companies that have liquidated have done. They just were not very good at running a business and cashflow forecasting, the last round was a downround and can keep blaming external factors but at some point you have to have a close eye on your numbers - and they didn’t.
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Another one bites the dust - The Funky Appliance Company on Seedrs. Bit of a bolt from the blue as the company was doing really well until it got shafted - £10m valuation a few months ago 
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Long story short, one of the management team lent the business £100k from his own business, on the basis that they wouldn’t have to start paying it back till 2024. After a dispute with the founder / director he then got together with the rest of the management team and pulled the loan 3 months early. This forced a healthy company into administration.
And guess who bought the company back from the administrators for pence on the pound 2 weeks later? You guessed it, the management team. This wiped out the owner and all the Seedrs shareholders in one swoop, and they now own the company to themselves. They even had the gall to post on Seedrs that if any of the old investors (who’s money they stole) would be welcome to invest back in their new company. 
Seedrs, the new owners and the administrators are completely ignoring emails and messages from dozens of disgruntled investors asking how this could happen.
For me this was the final nail in the coffin of crowdfunding - I can’t be doing with the fraud and backstabbing, and will be sticking to the stock market from now on. But fingers crossed my investment in Freetrade comes good one day - having got in at 15p a share that would wipe out all the other losses 
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Artfinder’s just become my first Crowdcube failure. It’s technically been sold as a going concern but for £0.0089 per share. The 2022 round was £0.281481 and it 2020 £0.17675 so it’s basically a total loss.
Apparently they didn’t realise they were subject to US sales tax and the subsequent liabilities killed them 
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Anyone know what’s happened with Small Robot Company?
They’ve gone very quiet since September which is never a good sign considering how active they were with the crowd to get enough runway to survive for a trade sale
They have so far declined to provide any update. Last I checked, their website was still operational, which is something at least. It makes me wonder if they have a deal lined up or if they have been simply paying themselves for a few more months from investor funds before throwing us under the bus. I’m used to seeing the latter and won’t be surprised if so…
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I hope not the latter, both for my funds invested but also they just seem like a good British startup and it would just be a grim verdict on how difficult it is to build/grow a startup in the UK
I got a reply from them in November saying the signatory process was taking longer than expected. Have just emailed them to an update after two months.
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I got an update from strowz in December.
Did anyone else receive the email?
I have been told to expect news on Small Robot by the end of next week I.e. 2nd Feb….let’s see. Always have a soft spot for these folks. Huge ambition but obviously capital heavy which in this economy is a tough place to be.
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Good to hear but I’d brace for a valuation/terms shock as they were in very big need of this and everyone knew it.
andddd they’ve gone into liquidation 
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Yep. I got the same email. Another one bites the dust. Shame. It had such potential.
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I just saw the email. Let us be clear, they are not yet in liquidation but it would appear almost inevitable.
I am frustrated [must resist ranting] but know that composure and strategic thinking are massive in this game.
So… has anyone got familiarity with buying assets from firms like SRC in liquidation?
I come from a farming family and still well connected. I actually started building a robot to identify dock weeds even before hearing of SRC. Their robot hardware looks far better than what I could do. At the right price I’d be interested in buying one.
I’d be slightly irked if everything of value ended up either disappearing or being sold for pennies in an opaque process.
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Huge ambition but repeated over promise and focus on changing the way farmers operate rather than integrating better with existing machinery and getting cashflow positive in the short term.
I still have a soft spot for them.
It’ll be my first crowdfunding default. Need to look into that EIS loss tax relief…
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Don’t know, I mean you there’s something to say about their naive approach to VC funding. I mean got let down by 1 and then the second does a similar rug pull.
I do believe they need to provide more details as to what happened there and how.
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Ooo!Ooo!Ooo! Another one bites the dust!
£2400 down the plug hole. I almost invested more the last time they had the begging bowl out about 5 months ago. Did they get money from anyone. They were making big promises “if we get this money we are saved kind a thing”
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R.I.P.
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Puts in perspective the decent job Freetrade have done navigating through these tough times.
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