OREANDA-NEWS. SyndicateRoom today completes its series A funding round, raising £3.1million. 

Super-angel investor and Abcam founder, Jonathan Milner led the round. Online investors included Unicorn AIM VCT, who invested the largest contribution, at £1million. As always with SyndicateRoom raises, all investors had access to the same class of shares at the same price per share. 

The initial target of £2.3 million (at a valuation of £25million) was reached in just 10 hours after going live on SyndicateRoom's platform. In May 2015, SyndicateRoom also completed a £1.2million funding round, which was completed in just 33 hours. 

Funds will be used to support an aggressive growth strategy over the next six months. SyndicateRoom will boost its expansion into the equity capital markets and double its staff base over the next six months. 

Goncalo de Vasconcelos, CEO and Co-Founder of SyndicateRoom said: "We are building the most successful and efficient incremental distribution platform for companies to raise equity investment at all stages of their equity journey, from idea to IPO. To have such strong demand from both retail and institutional investors is the strongest vote of confidence we could have regarding our expansion plans within crowdfunding and equity capital markets. I am hugely excited about the times ahead of SyndicateRoom and its potential to become a billion dollar business." 

Chris Hutchinson, senior fund manager, Unicorn AIM VCT, commented: "We are delighted to have the opportunity to invest in SyndicateRoom at this point in the company's development The business has been on an upwards trajectory since it launched - and the projected revenue growth looks incredibly positive. Fintech is set to have a dramatic impact on the financial services landscape as we know it, and we look forward to sharing in SyndicateRoom's success as it plays a key role in leading the future transformation of the industry." 

Lead investor and Abcam co-founder, Jonathan Milner, said: "SyndicateRoom's growth since it launched in 2013 has been absolutely phenomenal. A number of ingredients have combined to achieve this - from superb leadership and a brilliant company culture, to investor demand and a desire for growth from UK companies. The time is now for smart equity crowdfunding and SyndicateRoom is in a prime position to help drive further success across the industry." 

In March 2016, SyndicateRoom became a member of the London Stock Exchange, enabling crowdfunding investors to participate in IPOs and placings. It is the first platform of its kind to enter the public markets, enabling individual investors to have access to new equity issues on the same terms as institutions. Of the Britons surveyed for the Bridging the Equity Divide report, 40% said that they would have invested in an IPO had they known about the opportunity to do so. This suggests that the public equity markets are missing out on a vital source of retail investment demand. With this new capability, SyndicateRoom can support companies from idea stage, right through to IPO.

About SyndicateRoom 

SyndicateRoom is an equity crowdfunding platform which pioneered the investor-led model. By allowing members to co-invest alongside experienced investors in highly sophisticated opportunities, they get access to the same economic terms as the lead investors. This applies to opportunities from early stage private companies to premium segment listings on the main market of the London Stock Exchange.  

SyndicateRoom was founded by Gonualo de Vasconcelos and Tom Britton, and its own lead investors and advisers include UK Business Angel of the Year Peter Cowley and super-angel Jonathan Milner.