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Crowdcube is a British equity crowdfunding platform, live since February 2011 and generally credited as the first of its kind. A private company publishes a pitch with a share price, a valuation and a target; ordinary people can put in from 10 pounds; and if the target is reached the round completes and shares are issued.
More than 1.5bn pounds has gone into over 1,600 companies from more than two million registered accounts, though the company said in February 2026 that 425,000 people have actually invested. What you buy is a beneficial interest, not a share certificate: the shares are issued to Crowdcube Nominees Limited, which is the legal holder on the company's register, and it votes the whole block in line with whichever way the majority of the money votes, including the shares of people who did not vote at all. Crowdcube Capital Ltd is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under reference 650205, and an EU arm authorised in Spain serves European investors.
UK investors must classify themselves, pass a short test showing they understand the risks, and wait 24 hours before their first investment. Residents of the United States, Canada and Japan are excluded. There is no compensation scheme for investment losses.
You pay 2.49% when you invest, at least 5 pounds and up to 5% on some deals, and 5% of any profit when a company is finally sold. Since 2025 the growth has come from arranging sales of shares in large private companies rather than from new startup rounds. There is no maturity date and no promise of repayment.
License / Regulation: FCA authorised (UK); ECSPR via CNMV (EU) | Licence 650205
Crowdcube was founded in Exeter in February 2011 by Darren Westlake and Luke Lang and is generally credited as the first equity crowdfunding platform anywhere. Westlake stepped back as chief executive in January 2023 and was replaced by two internal promotions appointed joint chief executives; Matt Cooper is the one who speaks for the company through 2024 to 2026, and the second name is not published anywhere we could find. Crowdcube is independent and UK-owned. Its own backers include Balderton Capital, Draper Esprit and Numis from a 2015 funding round, and it has repeatedly raised money from the crowd on its own platform. It operates as a B Corp.
Trustpilot scores 4.4 out of 5 across about 8,452 reviews, but that measures signing up and investing, not what happened to the money. Smart Money People, which attracts people writing about outcomes, scores it 3.44 out of 5 from just 14 reviews. The most serious item is dated: in May 2021 the Financial Ombudsman ordered Crowdcube to repay an investor 18,000 pounds, finding that a Zing Zing pitch did not give a balanced view of the benefits and risks and that promoting its own due diligence had led the investor to believe the plans were substantiated. Law firms called it a potential landmark. The recurring complaints are that you cannot get out, that later rounds dilute you, that companies go quiet for years, and that an investor fee introduced at 1.5% in 2018 has since risen to 2.49%. Named failures include Sugru, sold in 2018 at a loss of about 77% to its 2017 backers, Chilango, Rebus and Caterham F1.
Thinly - once the money is in, the risk is yours. Companies are expected to send investors updates through the platform, but how often is up to the company and there is no standard. Your shares are held by Crowdcube Nominees Limited, which votes the whole block the way the majority of the money votes and gives the consents that let later fundraisings go ahead - fundraisings that dilute you unless you put in more money. A majority can also force you to sell. If a company fails, an insolvency practitioner is appointed, shareholders rank behind every creditor including the tax office and lenders, and you should normally expect nothing back. UK investors can claim loss relief.
Companies apply and Crowdcube screens them, then runs three to four weeks of checks before a pitch goes live. It verifies the company, its legal structure and its directors through Creditsafe, Experian and Trulioo, asks for evidence behind claims about market size, contracts and partnerships, and reviews the pitch so it reads fairly. Roughly nine in ten applicants are turned down. What it does not do matters more: the valuation is set by the company and is not checked, forecasts are not audited or endorsed, no risk grade is given, and none of it is advice. In 2021 the Financial Ombudsman found that promoting this process had created an expectation Crowdcube then failed to meet in one case.
Usually you cannot, at least not on your own initiative. There is no continuous market. Money comes back only if the company is sold or floats, if it buys shares back, if it agrees to run a share sale that Crowdcube arranges and you are eligible for, or if you privately transfer your interest - which needs Crowdcube's notification, anti-money-laundering clearance, the buyer being a platform member and the company's own rules allowing it. Unauthorised transfers are void. Where a share sale does run, Crowdcube takes 5% to 7.5% of the transaction. Its own guidance is that most sales happen more than five years after investing, and for most companies none has ever happened.
You pay 2.49% of whatever you invest, with a 5 pound minimum, rising to as much as 5% on some deals. There is no annual fee, no subscription and no management charge. When a company you backed is finally sold you pay 5% of your profit and keep the rest; nothing is charged if there is no profit, and this applies to businesses opened on the platform after 1 April 2021. If the company runs a share sale before a full exit, Crowdcube takes between 5% and 7.5% - and that is charged on the whole transaction rather than on the profit, which is a materially worse deal. Currency charges can also apply when you invest across pounds and euros.
Crowdcube is not part of the Republic group and never has been. Seedrs is - Republic bought it in a deal completed on 1 September 2022 and renamed it Republic Europe on 10 July 2024. Crowdcube and Seedrs did agree to merge in 2020, but the Competition and Markets Authority found in March 2021 that the combination would hold at least 90% of the UK market and risk higher fees, and the deal was abandoned. The two are now competitors. Crowdcube's own finances were fragile until recently: revenue of 9.8m pounds and a 6.2m pound loss in 2024, then a first full-year profit in 2025 driven by arranging share sales rather than by new startup rounds.
