Crowdcube's masterclass in PRing

Bereft of good news, Crowdcube have managed to spin a negative story into positve PRing.

This is a masterclass in shadow boxing and when Crowdcube go bust, Luke Lang is guaranteed a job in front line politics.

So here's what they have done. 

A while back they made a lot of noise about being the leader when it came to developing the use of ECF for IPOs. Now they have pulled this idea or possibly the LSE has chosen not to grant them a licence. Either way, Luke Lang is to be found telling anyone who will listen how Crowdcube have chosen to avoid IPO's because there is no money in it and the IPO market is sluggish. 

You can accept the second point as being cyclical but the first point just shows that previously Lang was, as usual, just shooting the breeze to catch attention. The fundamental mechanics of IPOs have not changed so Crowdcube clearly got their sums wrong - if they did any.

In the same article, http://uk.businessinsider.com/crowdcube-shelves-plans-ipo-market-economics-god-awful-2016-5, you can find Syndicate Room's CEO rejoicing in the fact that Crowdcube have missed 'his vision'. Luke Lang jabs back that he is afraid for his competitors - what a nice thought! Round 1 to Crowdcube

We think that it would be a nightmare for Crowdcueb to be allowed near IPOs. With their simply appalling record on due diligence and their reputation as the Woolworths of the ECF sector, it would be asking for serious trouble to allow them anywhere near to the official markets. 

So well done Luke for finally getting something right. 

Steve Smith leaves Estatesdirect

Estatesdirect funded via Crowdcube in 2014 and then in 2015 claimed it had raised £1.25m on Crowdube

http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/poundlands-estatesdirect-back-second-dip-crowdfunding/

https://www.estatesdirect.com/online-estate-agent-raises-1-25m-crowdfunding-just-45-days/

Well it seems that the 2015 raise, although completed on the platform never went through.

The main man behind this fund raising, Poundland's Steve Smith, has now resigned along with another key director. 

Would people have invested in this company if they knew Steve Smith was going to leave?

Probably not.

Where does this leave investors - who knows? Accounts due in August.

So the next time some big mover promotes a pitch on Crowdcube, just remember that they wont hang around if the going gets tough. 

Lovespace boxes may have dodgy bottoms

Lovespace smashed their first raise on Crowdcube in 2014

They raised over £1.5m against an ask of just £600k.

Now they are back for more - only this amount was not scheduled the last time they appeared.

The good news for Crowdcube investors is that the value of the company has increased almost 4 times in just over a year. 

The bad news for Crowdcube investors is that this value is total myth. The company projected sales revenues of almost £2m for YE December 2015. It has delivered just over £1m.

The company projected losses just over £300k for YE December 2015. It has delivered losses of over £1.5m. No wonder they are back for more. 

All this has been achieved using up the pile of extra cash they were given.

We cant see any reason to believe a single figure Crowdcube produce. The only certainty is that whatever the projections,  the company will fall way short of them. 

This box comes with a warning - HANDLE WITH CARE

Early Bird's worm gets caught in late frost

We have written quite a few posts on Early Bird. They have raised around £500k on Crowdcube in two seperate tranches.

The second Crowdcube raise at the end of 2015 was a memorable one. They had to change the offer several times to get over the £300k line, including moving the line closer (use our search facility to see other posts). This was mainly as a result of missing their original Crowdcube targets by many miles. At the same time they were punting their wares on Angels Den. They are one of flightier tarts on the circuit.

In this last Crowdcube pitch - projections to YE May 2016 showed an annual revenue of over £1m. Now a little birdy tells us that revenues for April this year were under £20k for the month. Yes a total of under £20k for the month.

Do the math.

The company claim that all their KPI's are tracking towards or are on target - eh? Someone must have stolen the original goal posts.  

The same birdy tells us that these guys are now moving on from Crowdcube and Angels Den and will be launching a funding round on the not quite crowdfunding platform Envestors....... soon. This new £500k capital raise was never mentioned in the last Crowdcube raise only a few months ago.

All we can say is good luck!

Superjam pricing a very sticky mess.

We have been following Superjam since they raised over £300k on Crowdcube. 

Their accounts are due out by the end of this month.

Meanwhile they have a very special special offer currently on their website. Their Blueberry and Blackcurrent Jam has, according to the site, been reduced from £35.88 a jar to just £2.99.

OK so this is obviously a typo. Forgiven.

However if you click through to Ocado or Waitrose you can buy the exact same jar of jam for £1.69.

Maybe someone at Superjam needs to take at a look at their pricing policy - if they have one. This just makes them look pretty foolish.

Waterbabies is finally laid to rest as the winner of Crowdcube's largest flop to date

Waterbabies The Musical easily surpasses Crowdcube's Rebus debacle 

Following the demise of Rebus recently, most papers reported that the loss to Crowdcube investors at around the £800k mark, was the largest loss in the short history of equity crowdfunding. As we pointed out at the time, this was incorrect.

Waterbabies raised £1m on Crowdcube, according to the platform. There has been some debate as to whether they did in fact raise all £1m, but Crowdcube claimed they did.

The liquidation has rumbled on but has now completed its final meeting and the company will be dissolved in two months time. Total debts £1.25m  Some way better than Rebus.

The only winner here has been the liquidator, emptying the bank account of the company's only asset, its £12,000 in cash.

Flavourly reviews are still appalling

Flavourly have funded on at least two ECf sites in the past 3 years.

In the interests of fair play, we wanted to give Flavourly a chance to get some good reviews - previously as reported here they have been very poor.

So it came aa a shock to look at Trustpilot's opening page for them and to find that 12 out of the 20 most recent reviews are 3 star or less. With comments like 'Do Not Use' the one star ratings are numerous.

What is it about customer service that this company simply cannot understand? Shareholders really should stick their oars in the get rid of the current management. Good reviewers like the idea and the main complaint is not about the concept but the atrocious customer care.