2016 was the most successful year to date for crowdfunding platform Crowd2Fund, whose 100 percent success rate and record number of funded campaigns have kept them at the forefront of crowdfunding innovation.
Throughout 2016 the total amount transacted on the platform increased by 350 percent, with the upward curve of the P2P platform’s KPIs supported by a number of industry-leading projects, including the Innovative Finance ISA and their AI powered SmartInvest feature.
The high headline returns offered by the platform in a low interest rate environment, alongside the added confidence of zero businesses defaulting on repayments, means that the total number of campaigns funding on the platform, with an increase of 600 percent year on year. More importantly for investor confidence, Crowd2Fund has maintained a 100 percent success rate for projects listed on the platform.
Interestingly, throughout 2016 the average invested into each campaign per investor dropped from £2390 in 2015, to £533; a year on year drop of 78 percent. This may indicate that investors are becoming more sophisticated, spreading investments across different campaigns in order to try and mitigate against risks, or that crowdfunding investments are attracting a wider audience willing to get involved.
Crowd2Fund’s IFISA
In April 2016, Crowd2Fund became one of the very first platforms to roll out the Government’s new IFISA product, allowing for tax efficient investments into growing British Businesses.
They remain one of the few to only allow private investor funds to be invested, not institutional money. Crowd2Fund’s direct FCA regulation and stringent due diligence processes are likely to be two key reasons why they were one of a few platforms with high enough standards to be approved.
The IFISA has seen strong uptake amongst both existing and new users, and is a strong indicator of the latent mainstream demand for P2P – particularly in a low interest rate environment with inflationary pressures.
iOS app
Crowd2Fund launched their iOS app in 2016, making it easier for investors to analyse and make investment decisions easily and on the go. It proved a success; 50 percent of active Crowd2Fund investors who have an iPhone also use the iOS app, with another update planned for launch in May 2017 with enhanced features.
Looking to 2017
Looking towards the New Year, Crowd2Fund plans to cement their reputation and status as one of the leading platforms by acquiring other P2P companies in order to grow their market share, and allow for a wider pool of investors to benefit from returns of up to 8.7 percent APR.
With P2P becoming increasingly becoming part of the mainstream, it is likely that in 2017 we will start to see a number of leading platforms pulling ahead; Crowd2Fund became profitable for the first time in 2016, reassuring regulators and investors that the model is robust enough to significantly scale the offer if desired. Profitability at such an early stage is almost unheard of within the FinTech sector, with other platforms recording large losses in the last year.
Chris Hancock, CEO and founder of Crowd2Fund, commented: “In 2017 we plan to continue to grow organically, and through the popularity of the IFISA but a major part of this strategy is also acquiring other platforms. Our processes and historic returns mean that we can scale quickly to provide British businesses with growth funding, and savers with much needed returns. Buying other platforms will allow us to benefit from economies of scale to service the market more efficiently, and will allow our investors a wider choice of businesses to suit their preferences and risk profile.”