Crowdfunding success for Local Vets

Local Vets, one of the Crowd10 finalists to go live on Crowdcube on 1st June, were the first to reach their crowdfunding target on Wednesday 15 June, just as the remaining finalists are about to launch their campaigns.

The Crowd10 initiative, which was the brainchild of crowdfunding expert Kirsty Ranger at IdeaSquares, nurtured some of the most promising start-ups from the South West on their crowdfunding journey.

Local Vets launched their crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube during a showcase event in Bristol on 1st June, along with three other finalists. Within just two weeks they have managed to secure the £40,000 investment they were pitching for.

Exeter-based Local Vets is a community of independent, locally owned vet practices which aims to offer greater brand reach to its members and allow them to compete with larger, corporate vets.

Matthew Dunne, founder of Local Vets, is hoping that the £40,000 investment will help them grow their network rapidly through a sales and marketing campaign. He says: “Before crowdfunding Local Vets, I didn't realise how much work goes into a successful campaign. Preparation is key; and the fantastic training and guidance from Kirsty Ranger and the whole Crowd10 team has been invaluable.

“Having your pitch go live on Crowdcube is a nerve-wracking experience, but the work done to engage our network and raise our profile paid off as we quickly started to receive investment. We've had some great feedback and reaching our funding target in under two weeks is a fantastic achievement.

“Our pitch will be live on Crowdcube for another two weeks and we're already beginning to overfund our original target.”

The other Crowd10 finalists who went live on 1st June are:

• Coherent: a tailor-made web app which makes managing and administering co-working spaces simpler. It also helps connect co-workers together. With two weeks to go, Coherent has raised just under 70% of its £100,000 target.
• LUX: an app that connects fine dining enthusiasts with high-quality local restaurants. Users collect points when dining out which they can then redeem for rewards. LUX has so far raised 30% of its £80,000 target.
• The Chocolate Bear Kitchen: a pop-up restaurant providing an inclusive dining experience by catering for a wide range of dietary requirements and preferences on one menu. Halfway through its campaign, The Chocolate Bear Kitchen has raised just under 50% of its £35,000 target.

Going live on Crowdcube this week are:

• Apps4arts: a self-publishing platform which makes it simple and affordable for multi-venue festivals to create their own event guide app.
• Breathe Sync: an app that helps its users improve their health and wellbeing by teaching them to breathe in sync with their heartbeat, leading to stress reduction and increased productivity.
• Esole: an insole fitted with a GPS tracker for people who suffer with dementia and Alzheimers and have a high propensity for getting lost.
• This Mum Runs: an organiser of social runs for mums, open to runners of all abilities. Runs are planned to fit around the children’s schedule.

Equity crowdfunding is an increasingly popular method of funding for start-ups. It harnesses the power of an entrepreneur’s individual network by giving friends, family and stakeholders an opportunity to become part of their growth and development.

Crowdfunding bids are not guaranteed to succeed though, and those who fail often do so due to lack of preparation.

Kirsty Ranger, founder of IdeaSquares, explains: “Crowd10 was all about getting promising local start-ups crowdfunding ready. They have attended workshops and received one-to-one training sessions from our many partners. We have submitted them to a gruesome schedule and they have all worked very hard in the run-up to their campaign.

“I am pleased to see the majority of the campaigns finally up and running and even more delighted that we have our first success story with Local Vets. I am looking forward to more good news from our finalists in the coming weeks.”