Spring normally brings a Chirp or two - not this year.

Chirp have filed what shareholders who invested via Crowdcube and Angels Den, must consider disappointing results for YE June18. A loss of £1.59m against a projected profit. 

It is not unusual for start ups to miss their projections but with equity crowdfuding it has become guaranteed. Which is not sensible. 

Chirp are just one example. With losses now amounting to over £4.1m to June18, readers will not be surprised to see that this is not what they planned when they sold their equity on Crowdcube and Angels Den. YE June18 had a substantial projected net profit with balance sheet losses of only £1.5m. 

Spring is full of optimism - so here is hoping that they can turn this around. No one wants it to go tits up. 

Nutmeg on Crowdcube - the definition of insanity

Nutmeg have announced that they will be raising around £10m on Crowdcube this year. The valuation is rumoured to be £1bn. That is 4 times the valuation that VCs like Goldman Sachs, paid for the company two months ago. What a bargain?

In what really appears to be a clumsy PR stunt, Nutmeg has announced it will be on Crowdcube later this year. But investors have to be customers. Nutmeg claim that this will democratise the company. This is apparently how we are now to view 'democracy' in action. Join first then you can invest.

Nutmeg is making impressive losses and recently secured some serious VC backing (Goldman) - at a valuation of ~ £245m - so the Crowd is being asked to cough up 4 times that. An increase in 2 months which for a loss making outfit is impressive.

Nutmeg don't really offer much that you cant, with a little gumption, get for yourself for free. Unfortunately that very idea, making the possible achievable with zero effort, has become a highly influential business model. If I'm brutally frank it's rubbish and should be called out as such before we all lose the will to live.

Holly and Beau Singing in the Rain as it reaches Seedrs target.

Holly and Beau make fun kids rainwear. They raised £80k on Crowdcube in 2015 and had up until now failed to deliver any numbers that made investors want to sing. Now they are completing another small round on Seedrs. 

It is great to see small businesses trying hard. But it would make a lot more sense for all of us if they would be a little more sensible. Holly and Beau should be making many thousands of pounds of net profit by now - this year was supposed to be their third year in profit. As it has turned out they have filed nothing but losses since funding on Crowdcube.

Still with the backing of some 'anon' investors they have now completed on Seedrs. We couldnt find any mention on the Seedrs pitch of the Crowdcube one or the failed targets. Which is a shame; maybe we missed it. Statements telling punters that the revenue has doubled each year are so pointless  - from £1 to £2 is a doubling but it is still pants.

A couple of points here. They say that the patent is still pending. But the stated aim of the 2015 funding was to obtain a US patent. They have a 60% US export market and only sell a tiny fraction of their product in the UK.

Oh well when we have ECF.Buzz up and running, members will be able to instantly reference a company like Holly and Beau, look up their funding and see how they have performed since. Then they can make a sensible investment decision based on the full facts. Non members will continue to fly blind.

Seedrs Gartenzwerg applies for liquidation and plans possible phoenix whilst still accepting donations on Indiegogo.

Gartenzwerg raised £260k on Seedrs in February 2018. Now it has written to these same shareholders to say adieu and sorry. Ahhh. And if you are lucky you can still give them your money via their active Indiegogo Campaign!! Backers are not amused. 

Of course the £260k was well spent and there is the stated hope of a phoenix post liquidation - is stating that even legal? Acting with the intention of ditching creditors via an administration and liquidation is not allowed. But seriously, who is going to notice. HMRC  - no way.

They are currently still on Indiegogo, despite telling backers they are not now going to get anything,  where they have pre sold £36k of their product and the page seems to be still taking cash in 'In Demand' mode, which has a certain irony. Read the updates and comments here. All sorts of excuses about how expensive the moulding would be  - didnt you think of that before you took other peoples' cash?

Here is a Q&A from 5 months ago - remember this customer has already paid - :(((

I am not away on holiday in Dec. Can I get it delivered in Jan (already ordered)

Gartenzwerg TechnologiesCampaigner5 months ago

Hi Leanne! Yes, of course, no problem. :)

It is a free for all. We advise companies to help themselves to this free money whilst it lasts. Investors will not be let down time and time again without some reaction. 

Two Heads Beer puts its Beer Boutique into Liquidation. It funded on Crowdcube valued at £2m less than a year ago.

332 Crowdcube investors put in £375k in the Summer of 2018. Now the founders have told them that The Beer Boutique Ltd - part of the group with 3 stores, is closing down via a CVL.

I dont suppose many of us are surprised. 

The speed of the collapse is a little shocking given the valuation just 10 months ago. And the reasons given are, to be honest, pathetic. But the upside is that they hope by off loading this loss making part of the business, they will be able to rescue the rest. I dont remember it being a loss making part in the business plan. 

I wouldnt be holding my breath given the horlicks they have made of this whole business so far. 

Stamplay sold to Apple as Seedrs investors receive a 2X return.

BREAKING NEWS - Stamplay, which used Seedrs to fund, has been sold to Apple for around $5m in a much needed boost for equity crowdfunding. 

Whilst Seedrs nominee SHs will have to wait 2 years for the full ROI, their initial return is two times the principle excluding EIS reliefs. Stamplay founders remain with the company and will now be employees of Apple. A great result for all.

The deal suffers from the now normal problems with Equity CF SHs not being given full disclosure and with no choice but to go along - or rather be dragged. But it is a return in a sector that is very lite on them so far.  

Stamplay used Seedrs for multiple rounds between 2014 and 2016. 

How to invest in Start Ups - or - How to Waste your Money - ?

A small start up funded via Seedrs in 2016 and then refunded 2017; valued at £750k. In 2018 it closed. No fuss, just closed by compulsory strike off. No accounts since initial accounts for Jan 2016. £140k down the pan. We could have helped investors avoid their loss. It was, put simply, a very pointless idea. 

It did make me laugh out loud when I came across it. You know the sort of business idea - ' Hey - you know the internet, well we have developed an app and it's really useful and it turns something that was 20C into the something 21C'. The problems arrive when you see that it does no such thing. In fact its only reason for being is the internet  - well that and to raise funding via Seedrs, who were stupid enough to give it space on their platform.

Muzeum is the offender. An app that takes all museums and personalises them for you. So you, the visitor, can have a fully personalised experience in the museum of your choice. Claims made on the video showed that an architect interested in buildings and schoolboy interested in gaming could both get personalised experiences from the same place. ..................Yes,  I know.

Complete and utter nonsense. Dont take my word for it - just look at the result. Farcical.