Monthly Archives: July 2019

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British Business Bank increases small business support by 27pc

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Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
British Business Bank, the Government economic development bank, increased support for start-ups and smaller businesses by over a quarter in the past year.
It has supported over 89,000 businesses in the UK with £6.6bn of finance in 2018-19, an increase of 27pc from £5.2bn the previous year, according to its annual report.
Over 90pc of the finance was delivered through smaller, newer or alternative finance providers. The bank announced 13 new delivery partners across its programmes during this period, lifting the total number of providers it works with to more than 130.
Almost half of the £6.6bn involved providing capital to SME lenders, a third consisted of equity placed with venture capital fuinds, and the rest spent by the BBB guaranteeing borrowing by businesses.
Indeed, the BBB has become one of the largest investors in venture capital funds. Unicorn companies that the BBB has backed through VCs include Revolut, Graphcore and TransferWise.
Meanwhile, the bank’s regional development funds, aimed at levelling the playing field for access to finance, now support more than £240m of funding.
The bank made a pre-tax profit of £81.3m over the period.
Lord Smith of Kelvin, chairman of the British Business Bank, said: “Smaller businesses are

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Crowdfunding UK small business: everything you need to know

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Originally written by Rob Murray Brown on Small Business
How can my start-up raise money through crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding or, more strictly, equity crowdfunding is a way for companies to raise capital by selling their shares via an FCA-regulated platform. Private investors who like the company or idea can invest as little as £10.
How many crowdfunding platforms are there in Britain?
There are three main platforms in the UK – Seedrs, Crowdcube and Syndicate Room and a variety of other platforms which offer different versions of the same thing. All in all, there are no more than five currently active that are worth considering.
How big is crowdfunding in the UK?
Equity crowdfunding in the UK started in 2011 and has grown to levels where it is now described by some commentators as being in the mainstream. I think this is an exaggeration but to give you an idea the data – which is produced by the platforms, so should be treated with some caution – puts the total raised from 2011 to 2018 at between £600m and £800m.
Which is the best crowdfunding platform, CrowdCube or Seedrs?
Horses for courses. Crowdcube are larger than Seedrs and have been going longer. But Seedrs offer a different package based

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