Invesdor raises another $1.4m to expand equity crowdfunding in Europe

Equity crowdfunding continues to be a hot topic around the world, with a number of players new and old re-doubling their efforts to capture the hearts and wallets of investors everywhere. The most recent example is Invesdor, a platform focusing on Scandinavia, who used its own platform to raise its fourth round of funding. This time, the company raised €1.2m ($1.36) to expand growth, especially in the UK.

Reading Invesdor's own investment pitch is a fascinating insight into the crowdfunding market. How delightfully meta.

Reading Invesdor’s own investment pitch is a fascinating insight into the crowdfunding market. How delightfully meta.

Equity crowdfunding is accelerating rapidly in Europe as the market is maturing. Companies like Seedrs (who recently raised $15m to expand in the US), Crowdcube, (who also raised a fat wedge of cash to fuel its expansion) and SyndicateRoom (ditto)  are already extremely active in the UK market, so Invesdor is facing a terrific challenge in trying to make way; it remains to be seen whether the relatively modest round will be enough to put a dent in the new market.

“We are facing a period of both high growth and heightening competition,” admits Lasse Mäkelä, the company’s CEO, who speculates that the the equity crowdfunding market might be moving towards a period of consolidation: “The inevitable time of mergers and acquisitions looms ahead.”

The company is currently active in Finland, Norway (where it claims it is the only platform licensed to run equity crowdfunding campaigns), Denmark, and the UK. Investdor anticipates it will use the funding to strengthen its presence in these markets, rather than expand to additional countries in the short term.

The company raised the current round from a total of 300 investors spanning 19 countries.