An overview of Crowdcube’s leading position in Spain
By Pepe Borrell, VP Europe at Crowdcube. 26th Jun 2019
quity crowdfunding in Spain is growing and maturing, with Crowdcube acting as a key driver for this growth.
Since launching in July 2014, Crowdcube has raised over €26m and completed 85 fundraises for Spanish businesses, half of those being in the last 18 months. That’s more investments than any other equity investor in Spain and more than twice our nearest local competitor.
Crowdcube named top equity crowdfunding platform in 2018 in Spain
According to the latest report from Universo Crowdfunding, the first independent data provider for all crowdfunding models in Spain, equity crowdfunding platforms raised €25.6m in 2018. That makes Crowdcube the leading platform in 2018 by investment amount, with 32% of the total investment made.
This also resulted in almost 60% more investment into businesses than our two closest local competitors: The Crowd Angel and Socios Inversores.
Source: Universo Crowdfunding
6 of the 10 biggest crowdfunding raises have been completed on Crowdcube
As more established, well-known companies are considering equity crowdfunding as a primary source of investment, Crowdcube is proving to be the first choice for ambitious entrepreneurs.
In June 2019, the leading shoe e-commerce business, Muroexe, raised over €2.8m from over 1,200 investors in just six days, which established a new national record in equity crowdfunding. Including Muroexe, Crowdcube has also been responsible for 6 of the 10 biggest equity crowdfunding rounds in Spain.
Top 10 equity fundraises in Spain
Company | Platform | Raised | Investors | Year |
Muroexe | Crowdcube | €2,800,000 | 1,207 | 2019 |
Santamania | Crowdcube | €1,280,000 | 769 | 2017 |
Dougalls | Fellow Funders | €1,250,000 | 438 | 2019 |
Ability Pharma | Capital Cell | €1,231,000 | 373 | 2018 |
Bionure | Capital Cell | €1,200,000 | n.a. | 2017 |
GeoDB | Crowdcube | €1,080,000 | 604 | 2019 |
Nanusens | Crowdcube | €1,074,000 | 785 | 2018 |
Wave App | Crowdcube | €1,011,000 | 557 | 2018 |
Parlem Telecom | The Crowd Angel | €936,000 | 105 | 2018 |
Housers | Crowdcube | €895,000 | 906 | 2017 |
Source: Spanish Association of Venture Capital, Universo Crowdfunding and platforms database
First half of 2019: higher average raise and more co-investment opportunities
While our average raise in Spain in 2017 and 2018 was close to €350,000, 2019 is set to be our biggest year yet as currently our 2019 average raise is close to €1m. In the first half of this year alone, seven businesses have raised over €7m.
And what’s better for investors, four have had local institutions investing alongside the crowd, which demonstrates how equity crowdfunding is now an established investor into the Spanish VC market.
Spanish crowdfunding future is promising
Spain, with Barcelona and Madrid as main hubs for startups and investors, has the potential to become one of the leading equity crowdfunding markets in Europe.
Some key factors such as regulation, tax relief for investors, or type of securities offered to investors are currently under consultation.
We’re working together with local Associations, Regulators and Institutional investors to accelerate these changes and make Spain one of the most attractive European countries for both entrepreneurs and investors.
These are some of the changes we hope to see in the near future:
- A new stock options scheme for startup’s employees
- An improved Tax Relief Scheme for angel investors
- A new Single Purpose Vehicle model, which will facilitate investments from hundreds or thousands of investors into startups, but under one single legal representative
We look forward to seeing these changes implemented soon. In the meantime, we'll be here to help more wonderful Spanish businesses looking to go global.