Hallelujah - We have reached our minimum target on Indiegogo in just two weeks

A huge Thank You to all supporters -we have now, after just 2 weeks, reached our minimum target.

It is clear listening to the noise on line over the Emoov fiasco, that many of the 1000+ investors in the second round on Crowdcube, just 3 months ago, had little idea what they were doing. Now they have probably lost the lot but certainly lost most of it. 

Only by giving more power to investors and giving them the right tools to make sensible decisions, can we change what is a race to bottom, led by Crowdcube. That is why we started this Indiegogo campaign and the logic of it is clearly not lost on our supporters. 

You can see and join the campaign here -

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ecf-buzz-the-crowd-investors-information-centre/x/19804529/

What the Keuken is going on with Crowdcube success Keuken?

You might well ask. Their London flagship at 8 Eldon St is now a hairdressers and has been for around a year. Crowdcube are still promoting the new shop opening on their website. Their accounts for YE Feb18 could be the construct of a Judd or Serra. FB is two years cold. Twitter didnt. 

159 Crowdcube punters gladly handed over 150k. The accounts, the few lines there are of them, show no cash or seeming value.

We contacted Dominic Dumont the founder and recipient of the £150k. He said last week that he would explain all of this. An email from him yesterday said he had decided not to explain any of it. It ends that he hopes we understand. Sure Dominic, we understand. When will people wake up to the fact  - illustrated here and with the ongoing fiasco at Emoov, that Crowdcube do not do any due diligence and do not care about investors.....at all.

Is this what Crowdcube mean by encouraging entrepreneurs to have a go? Surely there must be line over which having a go becomes having a laugh. It is such a dreadful waste of valuable resource.

Keuken's website, once you've wiped the cobwebs off, talks of servicing but the accounts suggest that they dont even do this. The company is literally worthless.

Maybe we missed something, maybe the accounts are wrong. Or maybe it is just another example of the very poor businesses Crowdcube promote. Ones that they themselves do not even know have now left the building. This patient looks blue to us. And so do many many more of Crowdcube's success stories. 

It is why we really do need our new ECF Buzz initiative to enable investors to make better informed decisions. It is clear Crowdcube will keep on presenting poor business ideas for as long as you keep blindly investing. Take a look - https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ecf-buzz-the-crowd-investors-information-centre/x/19804529/ - it is there to help you.

Financial Ombudsman and Crowdcube's response to the Emoov Fiasco - Nothing to do with us mate

This is a disgrace but it is also exactly what we predicted Crowdcube would say. Thank you to the investor who forwarded this and who is now a member of ECF.Buzz - so it wont happen again. Shame on you Luke Lang and Darren Westlake - 

Dear xx

Thank you for your email, which we will consider and respond to as a formal complaint. 

We understand and share your disappointment at the outcome for Emoov investors. However, as we underline on our platform, there is a very real risk when investing in startups and growth companies. As always, Emoov’s pitch was reviewed according to our due diligence charter, and approved as a financial promotion.

Any claims made on the company’s pitch on Crowdcube, including the financial section of the pitch, were subject to our standard due diligence and were therefore verified with evidence before being approved as a financial promotion. Any additional claims made outside of the pitch or post the raise on Crowdcube, would not be verified or approved as a financial promotion by Crowdcube. 

In the cooling off email that was provided to all investors prior to the capture of funds, the company reduced its valuation and confirmed that they would require additional funding. Investors were able to withdraw their investment during that cooling off period.
You can access our Due Diligence Charter, which is public on the Crowdcube site, here. 

It’s always disappointing when a business doesn’t succeed but please be assured that we will be liaising with the administrator over the coming weeks and we will provide further updates to investors when possible. 

Please consider this email as our official response to your complaint. If you feel we are unable to rectify your complaint to your satisfaction, we would like to make you aware of your rights to escalate your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service at the below details:

Financial Ombudsman Service
Exchange Tower
London
E14 9SR
website: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk 
email: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk 
phone: 0800 023 4567 or 0300 123 9123

Unbelievable. 

Emoov goes into Administration taking down its staff and shareholders as a goodbye Christmas present.

This Emoov fiasco is some serious caca. And we dont think the directors who managed to persuade so many Crowdcube investors to pile money into the company on the back of some watery promises will have heard the last of it.

This is one of the worst suicide notes we seen in recent times - it starts by making the false assumption, that the directors were entrepreneurs. I can think of words to describe them, but entrepreneur is not on the list - 

"They say that entrepreneurs should never give up. But at the same time one needs to know when efforts have been truly exhausted and when you simply have to call it a day.

"Regretfully and despite my significant endeavours over this weekend to achieve such, the prospective purchasers that have been in the wings have not come through with viable offers to acquire the Emoov business.

"In good faith, my absolute quest over the past few weeks has been to secure the future of Emoov under a new owner in order that staff and customers would have continuity and certainty. Sadly, that is not now to be.

"At 1pm today [Monday December 3] I held a call with Emoov board members where it was agreed to appoint James Cowper Kreston as administrators. Once this intention is filed with the court later today they will take charge of the affairs of the company and its staff, customers and creditors and will work to secure an ultimate buyer.

"Today is a truly sad day - but at the same time I am sincerely grateful to you all for your support, your loyalty and your hard work over the nine years since I founded the business. I'm especially touched by those that have attended the office and that have continued to work with me over the last few days in spite of the dark clouds that have gathered of late.

"I am also extremely grateful to specific shareholders such as Simon Murdoch of Episode 1; Gaby Salem of wharton Capital; and Alexander Lazarev of Maxfield Capital whom have been of immense support and professionalism since investing and in the last few weeks and months, fighting with me to preserve the company.   

"We built a business together that made positive noise, punched well above its weight and sought to make the home buying and selling experience better. We commanded a position as a well recognised thought leader and commentator and that led with a customer first, value led, tech enabled proposition. I'm proud of that and I am proud of all of you on that journey as the integral part of it. Our tech, systems, brand, TV ads, profile etc were all important components - but the team remains THE most important aspect by far. This is often underestimated by others. 

"So, thank you. But above all, I'm so sincerely sorry that it has come to this. 

"Peter Whalley and Tom Russell at James Cowper Kreston will be in contact and will guide you through the important aspects of the next steps." 

Bottom line is if buyers had been in the wings and the business was worth what he told us it was , they would have bought. BS only sticks for so long, no matter how much you throw at the wall. Crowdcube investors were told certain things that have turned out to be less than accurate. Crowdcube need to step up and explain how that could happen. The FCA need to step up and explain how they allowed Crowdcube to let that happen. Of course neither will do a thing. They never do. 

We wrote about this here when they announced they were going to 'sell'  the company. The only sensible thing that has come out of this is that this company couldnt be sold. You have to ask why. 

The Crowdcube Emoov second raise - just a few months ago for £1.8m, means that Crowdcube has enabled this shambles to raise £4.4m from the public. Just 2 months or so ago, Crowdcube were happy to enable this company to sell its equity on their platform at a valuation of £100m. £100m. And we warned you all not to invest. Is it right that Crowdcube get to keep their commission whilst their investors get shafted and the Emoov staff spend Christmas unemployed? Where is the justice in that?
Yet another reason why ECF Buzz needs to be launched - join up here if you want to do something -https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ecf-buzz-the-crowd-investors-information-centre/x/19804529/

Water to Go returns to Crowdcube after 4 years. How have they done?

Water to Go raised £191k on Crowdube in 2014. Its filtered water bottles promised the earth but have since failed to deliver much apart from £1.15m of accumulated losses. Now they are back on Crowdcube at the same valuation as 2014.

We wouldnt bother to highlight this new pitch of theirs had they been a little more honest. Their new Crowdcube pitch hardly mentions the 2014 raise - it gets a line about how oversubscribed it was. What investors want to know guys is how you have done in 4 years - what have you achieved and the honest reason you are now looking for new cash. This is not a game where the person who best hides the truth, wins.

Just to be clear, we are working with historic data, so 2018 could have seen sales soaring and business in profit. What we do know is that in 2014, the company told investors it hoped to be making a profit in 2016 of £2.5m on revenues of £10.9m. The actual revenue for 2016 as recorded in their filed accounts was £323k with losses for the year of £312k. This £323k is about half of the 2015 figure. The company has made nothing but losses since 2014. Yet the Crowdcube projections showed nothing but profits. 

All the above is not available in the latest Crowdcube Water to Go page. Is that misleading - you decide. 

So what about now? Well the company certainly needs cash. But with reviews that have a common theme - the bottles are not robust and do leak  - it needs a a lot more than that. These are recent reviews. This is not mentioned on Crowdcube but is in plain sight for anyone looking into the company. That is not sensible. 

One of the key problems with this product is that the mass market it seeks to access is not a market than can afford its high price tag. Third world countries where water supplies are troubled by bacteria are not inhabited by people with a spare £25. Likewise countries that do have plenty of such people, have water supplies that do not need a filter. There is a total misalignment. That might explain why after 4 years pummelling the roads to try to sell this product, sales went down last year. There are now of course plenty of alternatives - whereas 4 years ago Water to Go did have an advantage.

But the investment now may make sense - they have a new team to promote and they are still in business and one hopes, would have learnt a lot. Just be aware of what has happened since 2014 and make an informed decision. Crowdcube have failed to mention most of this.  This is exactly why ECF Buzz is so needed......Join us https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ecf-buzz-the-crowd-investors-information-centre/x/19804529/

Buy this book - you will not regret it.

This is a book for anyone interested in the world of Angel investment should buy and read. It is the sort of book that you will still be fingering through in ten years time just to check that piece of advice. 

You can find the book on Peter's website here. He was kind enough to give me one when we met recently to discuss various things including ECF Buzz - he is now a Founding Member.

Peter has a real depth of knowledge and is still out there travelling the world imparting his wisdom. That knowledge base is invaluable. You can't buy that - well you can now. That is why the book is worth reading and owning. 

So what did happen to Crowdcube's Glint Pay campaign?

Glint Pay successfully ran an equity crowdfunding Crowdcube campaign late this summer, raising over £2.2m. Now the campaign is no longer on Crowdcube and we understand that the money never went to the company? So what happened?

On this topic - a reader has pointed put that Nebeus raised over £1m on Crowdcube in September but then pulled the campaign. Anyone know why?? Crowdcube pitch has been removed as usual. What was is it Luke was saying about Crowdcube being open and honest? Oh that's right - nothing honest. Nebeus have now told us that they pulled the campaign (once completed) as they have 'decided to continue our plans independent' (not my typo). It says a lot for a company that it can arrange and then run a £1m plus ECF campaign and then cancel it after completion because it has changed its mind. Avoid would be the best advice. What the ...........are Crowdcube playing at?????

Glint Pay still have this on their website - https://glintpay.com/crowdfunding/ telling everyone what a great success the raise was. Follow the link to Crowdcube and you get a blank.

It wouldnt be the first time that a successful campaign ends up being ditched once the paperwork starts but it would be interesting to know if there is anything odd going on here. So if you are one of 1600 individual investors who thought they had bought shares in Glint Pay please do get in touch - we'd love to hear the story.

And again this is why we need the independent forum that ECF Buzz will offer all investors - see here and please join us - https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ecf-buzz-the-crowd-investors-information-centre/x/19804529/