Olga Kurylenko joins cast of Crowdfunded film Salty

More good news for those investors who put money into 'Salty' via Syndicate Room in 2014.

Olga Kruylenko is to play the main female role.

So despite some dealys in the schedule, the film crew is now in Chile (not Thailand as originally planned) and has started filming or almost started filming. Release date TBC

Droplet's mirage now appears on Syndicate Room

Droplet raised over £500k on Crowdcube in 2015 - valued at around £4m pre money.

This year they tried to raise more on Crowdcube but the pitch was pulled very early on - we wrote about it here. Now they have launched a new pitch, this time on SR raising £433,000 at a pre money valuation of just £3m.

Firstly hats off to SR for being the first platform to have a pitch where the value has reduced since its last round. 

The pitch on SR bears little resemblance to the figures given on Crowdcube in the first raise and even less to those given in the pulled CC pitch only 3 months ago. Because SR have chosen not to compare like with like, its impossible to make any judgement but that in itself should ring some alarm bells. The pulled CC pitch had revenues for 2016 of £400k and the company said it was raising a total of over £3m in equity finance this year. 

The name of Crowdcube is not mentioned although there is reference to crowdfunding - but not to the pulled campaign. we would certainly want answers to these points.  

Can Crowdcube ever get into profit?

Crowdcube need revenues of over £6m just to cover their costs.

Crowdcube's last accounts, showed they are now spending over £6m a year on administration.

So if they are charging on average 8% per successful pitch (a figure which probably optimistic), this means they have to see around £75m of pitches funded through their site before they get close to making any money.

Just as a snapshot, the site today has an estimated £3.76m of successful pitches sitting on it - ones that are over funding and ones looking likely to succeed. Annualised, this would return revenues of just £3.6m. Way short of the required number.

You have to ask, how is it ever going to make a profit?

MEEM's pre pack deal revealed

MEEM SL raised over £700k on Crowdcube only last year - we have already written about its strange demise on here.

Now we have had sight of the final Administrators proposals for its winding up - which as pre packs go makes for interesting reading.

This was a company that put itself into Administration and then offered to buy itself out of administration - nothing too unusual about that. However the figures involved give us cause for some concern.

According to the documents, MEEM SL had debts of  -

Employee liabilities under TUPE         £830,000
Creditors                                           £435,000

The agreed deal whereby MEEM Memory, as an associated party, is for MEEM Memory to buy all of the old company for £185,000 (used to pay off some creditors) and take on the liabilities listed above of just over £1m. apparently according to the administrator this is the best outcome for creditors.

So MEEM Memory starts its life with a over £1m of creditors. This, dont forget, is a company that could not as MEEM SL raise anymore capital (according to the Administrators) and had to go into Administration. As the Administrator's report states, it is pre revenue.

Ignoring the obviously ridiculous valuation that MEEM SL attached to their own IP when they raised money on Crowdcube, the loss of £700,000 in cash in 12 months, MEEM Memory appear to be starting with a large noose around their neck. Why if MEEM SL couldnt pay the creditors does the Administrator think MEEM Memory can?

The IP of this compnay was self valued at £855,000 by the management. In Administration the real value of the IP was put at between £30,000 and £140,000. How on god's earth is that possible?? And yes you have guessed it, this £800,000 valuation appears on the carefully checked pitch figures given on Crowdcube

Shareholders have been offered shares in the new co, which it seems reasonable to assume they will take up FOC. This will clearly also burden the new co with a shortage of usable equity to finance its precarious position.

All pretty odd.

What's happened at Vulpine?

Vulpine raised over £1m on Crowdcube at a valuation of over £6m.

A little birdy has told us that the projections may now have turned out to be wildly optimistic.

Unfortunately we cant go any further as we cant verify the information  - so is there anyone out there who wishes to tell us what is going on??

We have had a second very odd message which is about Vulpine  - odder than the guy above even. But again totally unverifiable. Anyone out there with information??

Crowdcube failure Solar Cloth fails to find a buyer

Solar Cloth assets have been sold by the Administrators and shareholders will see no return

Crowdcube's largest failure to date, where £1m was invested, has been wound up by Administrators with the company assets being sold off. The buyer is as yet unknown.

A sad ending to very sad tale. 

None of it Crowdcube's fault of course. Its ironic that it comes on the same day that someone else was in the news saying that whatever happened, he couldnt be sure that it did happen because he wasnt there and anyway it wasnt his fault if it did happen and he doesnt want to blame anyone, even if it did happen.......anyway. Right? Got that ?? Good. Lets move on shall we. 

Crowdcube just keep it coming & coming & coming ..........

Tidy Books Europe Ltd raised £125k on Crowdcube in 2013

Last year they tried to raise another £150k but failed.

So we have a projections used for last year's attempt to compare to the real accounts just filed for YE August 2015. Needless to say the filed accounts bear absolutely no resemblance whatsoever to the 2013 projections. But you'd have guessed that already. You would also not be surprised to know that in 2013 they had no plans to raise more money and thereby dilute shareholders.

What is more alarming and if you read this blog you will know it is becoming almost an everyday occurrence, is the fact that the historic accounts to YE 08/15 produced by Crowdcube in last year's pitch, are not the figures that have just been filed at CH.

So here we are again - yet another pitch with figures that are purported to be 'actuals' and that have a  material bearing on the investment pitch - where the figures are wrong. If some figures were wrong one way and then others the opposite way, then you could just put this down to either stupidity or laziness. But no, the differences are ALWAYS making the companies' positions better .....never worse.