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Seedrs has biggest month ever as crowdfunding platform boasts its first floatation

Companies raising cash on equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs attracted almost £20m in investment in October in what was the biggest month ever for the platform.

Employee benefits business Perkbox, which raised £4.35m as part of its overfunded investment round, and FinTech business WeSwap, which raised £2.4m from over 3,000 investors, led the way as total investments on Seedrs surpassed £160m since its launch in July 2012.

The record breaking month comes at the same time as Edinburgh’s FreeAgent floated on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange today, making it the first crowdfunded business to IPO.

The cloud accounting firm raised £1.21m on Seedrs in 2015, meaning shares acquired by crowd investors now have liquidity on the stock exchange.

Seedrs Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Lynn, commented: “We congratulate FreeAgent following today’s float on AIM and for becoming the first equity crowdfunded IPO. As the early stage investment space matures in the coming years, we look forward to seeing many more Seedrs companies floating or exiting.

“We strongly believe that this asset class will be very fruitful for investors with diverse investment portfolios, and FreeAgent’s listing is an early example of that.

“Despite Brexit, the UK is still attractive and safe for inward investment and will continue to be one of the number one destinations for entrepreneurs to set up a business with its favourable tax reliefs, streamlined business incorporation and simple transport abroad.”

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