An organisation which helps members of the UK forces and emergency services cope with unemployment has raised £25,000 through the equity crowdfunding website Crowdcube.com.
The London-based Personal Development Bureau raised the seed capital from 68 investors – each contributing between £10 and £3,300 for a proportion of the 15% equity on offer.
The investment will be used to finance the development of the business, which helps police, fire service and armed forces personnel cope with unemployment, by providing mentoring, training and support services. As many as 34,000 police and 75,000 armed forces are expected to lose their jobs over the next four years, due to public sector cuts.
Personal Development Bureau is only the second business to meet its funding target since Crowdcube – which is the first crowdfunding website in the UK – launched in February. The first successful pitch was by Fairtrade bodycare business Bubble & Balm, which raised £75,000 – suggesting that investors using the site are particularly attracted to ethical firms.
Rupert Honywood, founder of Personal Development Bureau, said of the investment: “The funds raised will enable us to grow this business, helping the thousands of people that need our help.
“Crowdcube’s new method to raise capital is especially relevant to us because it enables the very people we serve, our members, to become actively engaged in the community as shareholders too. We’ll certainly be using Crowdcube for any future funding requirements.”
Darren Westlake, co-founder and managing director of Crowdcube added: “It is small businesses like Personal Development Bureau that are vital to our economy, particularly given their role in nurturing other start-ups. Yet many fail to get the finance they need to start up and grow.
“Despite the incentives provided by the government to get the banks lending to small businesses, seed capital is still a huge challenge for…start-ups unable to show three years trading figures, or for small businesses that don’t want to be encumbered with as much as 16% loan interest. Turning the general public into armchair dragons is the future of business finance in Britain.”
For more information on Crowdcube, read the founders’ interview with Growing Business here