27th January 2022
We are excited to announce that Moneynet recently awarded Crowd2Fund DOUBLE GOLD for the MOST INNOVATIVE p2p platform for the second year running. Moneynet is one of the longest established personal finance information sites in the UK, having been around since 1997. Each year the Moneynet personal finance awards recognizes leading personal finance providers and products from the previous 12 months. Awarding banks, credit card companies and building societies that have gone the extra mile to deliver outstanding deals for the consumer. They highlight products with the finest rates and fees, whilst taking note of product features and innovative ways of giving the customer an all-round good deal. At the beginning of each year the much anticipated list of winners is announced and published on their site for all to see.
Crowd2Fund has a revolutionary investment methodology, modernising the way individuals can back entrepreneurs they believe in with a sophisticated proposition and robust technical infrastructure. Instead of pooling funds on behalf of investors and distributing them across all investment opportunities, investors on Crowd2Fund can select the individual businesses that they want to back directly. This establishes a connection between the investor and the entrepreneur of the business they are supporting. Entrepreneurs can then build and harness the value of a relationship with a community of private investors and reduce the cost of capital through offering a reward or inviting their customers to invest. This is a truly unique approach offering higher quality capital and modern financial services for businesses.
During 2021 we delivered multiple projects enhancing the investing experience for our private investors, detailed below. During this time, we have also continued to expand our community and develop enhanced features for our users.
NEW IOS APPLICATION FOR THE INVESTOR COMMUNITY ENRICHING THEIR INVESTING EXPERIENCE
We are refreshing our Crowd2Fund brand and have developed a new colour pallet which is incorporated into our new iOS app which offers a significantly enhanced user experience and performance. Our iOS app allows you to invest in great British Businesses from the palms of your hands. You can manage your portfolio, track your earnings and buy and sell on the Exchange. The new app design is also being rolled out to a new desktop website at the start of 2022 where you can enjoy this enhanced investing experience with new tools and community features. This includes functionality which allows you to message businesses, ask questions about their investment and share investments with your peers.
POST COVID LIQUIDITY MODELLING WITH THE POTENTIAL TO MOBILISE £BN’S
Crowd2Fund is unique as we allow businesses to raise capital exclusively from a community of private investors. There is no institutional capital deployed via the platform. This type of capital is higher quality as it offers multiple benefits to the businesses raising the capital, including the ability to convert investors into customers. During COVID the feasibility of raising capital like this was brought into question due to confidence of investors. However, this year we have expanded our community further with 1,234 new investors and have reproved the cost of acquisition for an active investor at an average of £424. Each new investor invests around £5,384 per year and we believe this model can be scaled up to deliver £bn’s of new capital for entrepreneurs.
POST COVID SME CREDIT POLICY PROVIDING MUCH NEEDED CAPITAL TO ENTREPRENEURS
We have developed a credit policy and supporting technology specifically for businesses that may not have qualified for the government stimulus allowing entrepreneurs to raise capital outside the constraints of the government COVID stimulus. The new credit policy includes an analysis of COVID-specific variables, a new credit risk indicator, and further controls sign-offs points. This policy is proving effective with very minimal late repayments from loans issued within the last 12 months.
ENHANCED EXCHANGE AND LOAN MONITORING PROTECTING INVESTORS INTERESTS
We have developed an automated loan and business monitoring tool that allows the Crowd2Fund team to monitor the health of loans, this also allows for us to make early interventions if a business appears to show early signs of distress. Moreover, this allows us to monitor loans going onto our Exchange and therefore avoid any distressed businesses being listed on the Exchange and reduce the possibility of losses for investors. It also provides investors with more information on this gamified element to the investing platform.
Winning the MOST INNOVATIVE p2p platform for the second year running is a huge accomplishment and proof of our team's amazing work creating such excellence in technology and innovation. We pride ourselves on being one of the leading UK- based Fintech companies, so are delighted to share this news with you.
Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to growing alongside you in 2022. Do remember to please download the application if you’re an IOS user. Feel free to give us any feedback, this will help us to improve and develop to ensure a cutting-edge investing experience.
Happy investing!
