London investment platform secures £2m for expansion

A London digital marketplace has announced that it has secured £2m in funding to expand its investment platform.

Envestors has secured £2m to help grow its digital marketplace, which is powered by its investment platform Envestry.

This new investment will be used to grow the network of partners using Envestry, including accelerators, incubators, universities, angel networks and larger enterprise clients.

It will also be used to enhance the platform, building on ‘smart matching’ functionality Develop Envestors’ investment readiness services, to help start-ups increase their chances of raising capital.

John Bailye, managing director of the SidebySide Partnership, commented: “SidebySide’s ethos, as our name implies, is to invest in companies and provide strategic input to help them grow.

“This is a new fund and Envestors is one of our first investments. We’ve known Envestors for a number of years and are equally as passionate about creating a single marketplace for early stage companies and investors.

“It’s precisely what the industry needs. Envestors has already proven itself on a small scale. I look forward to seeing them do much more on a much bigger scale.”

David Martell, founder of Chargemaster, said: “Without platforms such as Envestors we would not have been able to the raise the £15m required to expand our business.

“The 51 private investors who invested under the EIS through Envestors shared a profit of £48m when we sold the company to BP – proof the model works.”

Roderick Beer, managing director of the UK Business Angel Association (UKBAA), added: “Connecting the angel ecosystem is one of our primary goals as an organisation and we’re fully supportive of Envestors, who are a long-standing member, in bringing together regional and sector specific angel communities.”