£100m London fund partners with Crowdcube to back digital startups

A London fund has announced a new partnership with an international crowdfunding platform to help boost digital startups.

Episode 1 is partnering with Crowdcube, which focuses on equity crowdfunding, to invest in “the next generation” of infrastructure and deep tech startups in the digital sector.

Selected businesses will have their pitches reviewed by Episode 1, which backs Zoopla and Shazam, ahead of a funding round on Crowdcube.

The companies said that the fund was inspired by the increased need for tech solutions due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Simon Murdoch, managing partner of Episode 1, commented: “B2C businesses are easy to understand, so they tend to get more coverage than B2B businesses, particularly those which are more specialist.

“What we’ve found is that a large number of IPOs in the US are B2B. In 2018-2019 there were six times as many IPOs for B2B than there were for B2C businesses.

“Sectors that are lacking in competition, like software infrastructure and deep tech, are good areas for investors to look into.”

Matt Cooper, chief commercial officer at Crowdcube, said: “Crowdcube is delighted to be partnering with Episode 1 on our hunt for the startups building software infrastructure that’s enabling change.

“Developments in API-driven technology, open-source tech and analytics software are now more important than ever.

“We recognise this potential and want to give everyday investors the opportunity to be a part of their future success.”

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