Some people had to wait for the 5th round in june which was a higher price.
I have never been involved in a crowdfunding before. How does it work? I sign up to the platform (Crowdcube) and buy from it on the day? How do I prove that I am a “customer”?
From what I read here it is a bit like buy shares but I guess that as they are not listed on the stock market you cannot actually sell them unless there is an IPO or a competitor decides to buy FT… Can someone confirm?
I have read about the 30% Income Tax relief and Capital Gains exemption from the Crowdcube link that someone posted.
1 Like
So you need to be fully setup on Crowdcube before you can invest. As a Freetrade user, FT have said you’ll be given priority access to the pitch on Crowdcube (normally a private link) before the general public to allow as many users as possible to access the EIS.
On the subject of selling, yes a number of ways. With IPO being one but that could be several years away. You could sell to other Crowdcube investors (note Crowdcube doesn’t have a secondary market) or you could sell into a VC round (Revolut allowed this in the past). Bear in mind they are generally something for the long term and are considered illiquid investments.
2 Likes
Also remember a very high % of crowdfunded companies go bust. Often within 5 years. Someone might know the exact figure but I thought it was at least 80%. One thing that makes Freetrade different to many crowdfund rounds is that it’s also been funded by a Series A last year which is very reassuring. It’s also clearly taking off very successfully.
7 Likes
@AJHY @ Rollingskies
Thank you for your replies 
What proof do you get of your investment and stakes?
Do you get a compliance certificate (form EIS3)?
Asking in terms of future proof if there is an IPO as well as how to prove it to HMRC to get the Income Tax relief.
The info I am basing this on is:
UK HMRC - Tax relief for venture capital investors
Yes you get a form which you can use to send off to HMRC to claim a refund of tax paid for the current or previous tax year. There will be a share certificate from crowdcube.
1 Like
Okay, thanks @Rollingskies
When you sign up to Crowdcube (do it now) you can login and see any investment open to you and you can see your portfolio. SIgning up to Crowdcube is straightforward but you do need to fill in a questionnaire to make sure you understand the risks of investing in unlisted companies etc. It is fairly straightforward but sobering.
While logged on why not have a look around and see how it works. There are lots of companies raising funds at any point in time and you will see that typically they tier some sort of benefit with the amount of money you invest. You can join in with an investment of as little as £10. You’ll see the progress of the raise, whether they have raised enough, when they close to further investment and then the processes that kick in at that point. For your HMRC certificate for example it can often take several months before you get it. That’s not necessarily a problem with Crowdcube or the company, just a reflection of how long the process takes. It’s not really a problem, I’m claiming now for investments a couple of years ago.
In terms of proof of investment you can download your share certificate from within your portfolio page.
Not saying Crowdcube is perfect but it’s a fairly seamless experience.
After the overwhelming response to the crowdfund last time it’s worth signing up to Crowdcube early and be sure to use the same email address as you use for your Freetrade account. You are likely to be sent a link when the raise goes live.
7 Likes
The only thing i’d like to clear up is that even if i signed up on Crowdcube and had my funds ready for the raise i could still miss out on investing in Freetrade if their allocated shares sold out?
It seems that FT raises are popular and sell out within minutes?
I really like Freetrade and would like the opportunity to invest in the company that finally made it possible to own shares and invest in the stock market so would be gutted if i missed out!
2 Likes
Yes sadly that is true.
They are doing
- Early release for people who have invested previously
- Then early release for Freetrade customers
- General public.
So make sure your free trade email is the same as your crowd cube one
2 Likes
Thanks. Heading over to Crowdcube to sign up right now. 
1 Like
Just make sure on the dot you are ready. Be primed. Everything ready. 77 seconds is hardly long enough for people to load a webpage and complete a payment. I managed to though. I was so determined I actually did a dummy run a few days before and threw something at another crowdfunding raise for another firm to just be sure it would work smoothly.
4 Likes
Same 
It was a bit different when I invested in round 1 
9 Likes
It’s actually only 21% of CrowdCube companies fail after 5 years https://www.crowdcube.com/explore/blog/crowdcube/whats-the-survival-rate-of-a-crowdfunded-business
3 Likes
Which could mean he is right - 20% fail after 5 years, 80% fail within 5 years.
(This is a tongue in cheek comment)
4 Likes
How have you figured that from the above article?
Good idea.
On reflection, I can see some humour is missing from my post. It was a tongue in cheek remark that if 20% fail after 5 years, 80% fail before.
Emphasis added.
1 Like
Alright. Don’t rub it in 
