10th December 2024
As 2024 comes to a close, we take this opportunity to reflect on the year, its milestones, and how we’re evolving to support our investor and entrepreneur community. While the year presented challenges, it also demonstrated the resilience and potential of Crowd2Fund to create impactful change for both businesses and investors. With the year coming to an end, we want to take the opportunity to highlight some of the year’s key successes and trends, showcasing the industries and businesses that have thrived despite an uncertain economic climate.
A Year in Numbers
For the period of Jan-Nov 2024, Crowd2Fund facilitated £2.82 million in loans to innovative businesses across the UK, while £3.94 million was repaid to our investors across all loans during the same period—a testament to the trust and performance of many of our borrowers.
Success Stories and Sector Trends:
2024 saw remarkable success in several key industries, with standout performances in:
- Construction and Waste Management: Businesses like County Outsourcing Limited drove strong results, meeting investor expectations with timely repayments.
- Confectionery: Artisan producers expanded their reach, supported by investors keen to back niche markets.
- Professional Services and Healthcare: Sectors such as legal services and supported living proved robust, demonstrating sustained demand and reliability.
Returning clients also shone, with companies like Spanish Slate and Genuine Cakes who’ve raised £1.07m, and £527k respectively with us over the years. Reflecting the continued importance of businesses with a strong track record and investor trust.
Listening and Advancing Together
We recently launched a survey so we could hear directly from you. We gained invaluable insights from our investors, helping us identify opportunities to elevate our platform and services. With your feedback guiding us, we’re excited to focus on three key areas for improvement:
Enhanced Due Diligence:
We’re continually refining our credit risk process to help safeguard your investment. Our team is committed to finding ways to improve the process, and we're excited to share our progress. We revised our credit analysis process in early 2023 and continue to build on those changes to provide the most detailed analysis possible before you invest.
Our updated credit analysis now includes:
- Built-in third-party objectivity from trusted industry partners like Equifax, TransUnion, and Company Watch.
- Credit meetings with prospective clients to better understand their business model, mitigating factors, and use of funds.
- A sharper focus on affordability and debt servicing capacity with more stringent requirements for approval.
Improved Communication:
We’re aiming to introduce proactive updates and transparent reporting to keep you informed about loan performance and our actions on defaults.
- Introduction of Intercom, a powerful new tool allowing live-chat with our support team.
- Newsletter for investors and businesses, on a rotating weekly basis.
- 24-hour response time
- The Investor Survey was live for a few weeks in late October to early November which provided considerable insight into our investors wants and needs.
- Consolidated support inboxes to streamline support operations
- Regular calls from the support and investor relations teams to build relations with our community
- Optimised system alerts and notifications
Technology Upgrades:
For the past few months our team has been working hard to modernise our platform. The goal is to improve stability, usability, mobile access, access to better data, and enhanced features for both investors and businesses on the platform. Updates you will see rolling next year.
These are just some of the initiatives that are at the heart of our commitment to creating a better, more seamless experience for our investors while fostering long-term loyalty and partnership. Together, we’re shaping a stronger future.
Looking Ahead: 2025 and Beyond
The coming year presents exciting opportunities. Here’s what’s on the horizon:
- Enhanced Product Offerings: Introducing features tailored to evolving investor and borrower needs.
- Technology Innovation: A robust upgrade to our platform, with enhanced reporting tools, mobile-first design, and improved analytics to support better investment decisions.
Stay Engaged
Investor engagement remains central to our ethos. From regular updates to surveys that ensure your voice is heard, we’re committed to maintaining an open dialogue. We’ve implemented intercom and have increased resources in our support department, aiming to respond to queries within 24-hours.
Your feedback continues to guide our evolution and ensures that Crowd2Fund remains at the forefront of the crowdfunding sector.
Thank You
We thank you for being an integral part of Crowd2Fund’s journey this year. Your support fuels our mission to empower businesses and redefine finance. Together, we look forward to a prosperous 2025.
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