Online lettings agency easyProperty says it has exceeded its overall fundraising target by 30 per cent raising £9.75m through a mix of crowdfunding and private investment.
It is thought to be the first time a simultaneous mix of crowdfunding and private investment has been used to fund expansion plans for a property company.
Over 1.3 million shares in the firm were purchased at a cost of £7.13 per share, with retail and professional investors offered early stage involvement in the company.
The private investment process driven by Chrystal Capital secured £8.35m investment from a range of companies and High Net Worth Individuals.
As reported last month on Letting Agent Today, easyProperty also over-subscribed by 42 per cent on the crowdfunding platform Crowdcube, raising £1.42m. The minimum investment was set at just £500, although it achieved individual investments of up to £200,000.
Originally, crowdfunding investors were offered over a 1.5 per cent stake in the online business, but the overfund lead to 2.12 per cent equity being taken.
Rob Ellice, easyProperty chief executive, says he is overwhelmed by this response.... revealing how much faith is being placed in the online marketplace.
The online agency still proposes to expand into sales in spring 2015.
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Comments
If anyone thinks they are really worth 67m and expects a return, they are deluded. If Xperience is worth 6m with 600k of profit then do the maths. Some investors may get seriously upset. Seriously, 67m BEFORE launch Maybe they will prove me wrong - we will see.
Online agents do not work - I don't care how orange this new one is. :p
[i]"Rob Ellice, easyProperty chief executive, says he is overwhelmed by this response.... revealing how much faith is being placed in the online marketplace.[/i]
Er - no. There are a lot of naive people looking for a speculative deal. The fact is, EP still only has 88 properties on the market in London and soon people will see the Emporers new clothes for what it is. The company is worth a fraction of it notional valuation - to expect a return on the investment as well is simply astonishing.
OK so I know we are all a bit fed up with all these 'online agents taking over the world' articles but I am mystified by these 'investors'. What is more, this seems a disgusting abuse of Crowd-funding.
So the crowdfunding raised around 15% of equity but they only get 2.12%.
By my rough calaculations, the company would need to make an after tax profit of around 7.1m for 10 consecutive years for the crowdfunders to get their investment capital back.
Now seeing how big and successful and profitable these agents will be.....oh no, hang on. Ummmm, errrr. The words 'down, drain and money' spring to mind....not sure why.
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