Founder Trevor O'Hara is a cracker - he's from Ireland. This is not a story of a near miss or bad luck. It's not even a joke. No, this is a story about nonsense, about promoting £21m of net profit, rising to £35m next year and delivering liquidation. It is not a story anyone would wish to see repeated.  Trevor sent his shareholders a short communique stating that for reasons outside of his control he had to close the business. In plain English - I have spent all the money and now the bank account is dry, it's time to go and do something else. Nowhere in this pathetic excuse of an email does ..read more

Beerbods raised a total of £400k on Crowdcube in two rounds. Now Matt Lane has sold the business to Beer Hawk, recently acquired by ABV incubator ZX Ventures.  This is exactly the sort of transaction that will make equity crowdfunding work; if it gives investors in BeerBods a return. Lane admits that the sale is forced - ie its the only option if the company wants to make any immediate headway. No figures have been disclosed although shareholders will know shortly. In the first round Beerbods was valued at around £400k and then a year later at £2.5m post money. So looks like the 101 first r ..read more

After a somewhat bizarre failed rescue attempt, DKSG Bespoke, ASTF's and any other associated companies are heading for the chopper.  Crowdcube investors who were asked to find £50k to support a new attempt to buy out the on line tailor, appear to have chosen not to. In the circumstances, a wise choice. No doubt the administration/liquidation will shed some light on the very odd goings on.  Adieu ..read more

In yet another example of the investor power vacuum, HAB Housing Ltd have filed yet more heavy losses whilst associated companies play swinging doors and restructuring games.   HAB took £1.8m off Crowdcube investors in 2013 and ten another £2m of Crowdbnk investors via a Bond in 2017. Results have so far been on the disappointing side and the GAP between the £8m predicted profit for 2018 and £1m loss is substantial.  What is more worrying for investors is the silence that has accompanied this. Shareholders we have spoken to say they have been told nothing or very little. HAB Land, an SPV use ..read more

10th July - the very same day Lady Godiva, The Countess of Mercia, rode naked through the streets of Coventry. That is the date for the launch of our new Equity Crowdfunding site ECF.Buzz.  The two are not necessarily related. However as with Godiva, we are attempting to break the status quo and improve what is a hapless situation. Luckily for everyone, Im keeping my clothes on. And whereas her story is myth, ours is for real.  This blog will be moving - to the new site. At ECF.Buzz everyone will have free access to the latest  blog posts but the archive will be kept for members. That along ..read more

Simply - it doesnt. Never has done and never will. ASTF funded on Crowdcube and Envestors. Went bust, was exhumed and now sits on the edge of the hole about to slip back in. Meanwhile it appears investors may well have lost more cash.  This isnt a case of a poor idea or even a good one poorly executed - although execution has not been great. This is about a team who will, by looks of things, end up wanting to kill each other. A team made up of various cultures where it also appears these cultures and their differing attitudes, may have clashed. The story has more twists than a bowline. We h ..read more

We strongly recommend that if you want to be cheered up, you read the Kokoon Kickstarter forum. Now in breaking news, the company has written via Seedrs to existing SHs about an exciting development.  Hard to know where to start with Kokoon  - makers of the sleep enabling headphones that have given thousands of Kickstarter backers sleepless nights, waiting for delivery. 3 years on, the latest batch of comments (4,997 in total) on their pitch page are hilarious - provided you are not a shareholder. We particularly liked this one -  I listed mine on Ebay with no reserve! Get a great deal. And ..read more

Made in Mind (MIM) went into administration on 25 June. It had raised £352k on SR in 2014. Now a version of it is appearing on Kickstarter even before the initial administrators report is out. Shareholders are scratching their heads. This is a new one for us. The letter sent out to SHs in MIM made the usual excuses and apologies. It made no mention of the just launched KS campaign - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/muone/mu-book-wireless-fast-charger-and-carry-case?ref=7vt3bx The KS campaign is for a version of the product sold by MIM but states that the owner of the campaign is now Di ..read more

Ryan Pasco and James Taylor applied to have their 2014 Crowdcube funded company quietly struck off in May 2018. Now in June 2019 is is still listed at CH as active with the Voluntary Strike Off suspended. Someone didnt like it.  Angelberry stopped functioning as a company 2 years ago - we have written about them here  So Crowdcube investors not only have a dead company but they cannot at the moment claim loss relief. We do not know why someone has stopped the striking off but a guess whom be that there is some dispute between the founders and shareholder/s or directors that has not been set ..read more

Mindflood or Patchworks, a tech company based out of NI, raised money on Crowdcube in 2015. Shareholders have heard nothing since 2016. Now in June 2019, they are told that the company is closing and they will receive some small change - donatable to charity. According to Mr Heinz (no relation) the founder, investors would receive 5p per share on winding up against the share price of 73p. He doesnt apologise or even mention how inconvenient this might be. In 2016, the company issued 139k C Prefs to Techstart NI and one other much smaller investor. These shares had a catch - in the event of ..read more