eMoov launched the six-week fundraising campaign on the crowdfunding platform Crowdcube on the 1st of September and had initially targeted £1m for 5% equity in the company.
The figure achieved by eMoov was Crowdcube’s highest share equity raise for a property tech business and the second highest for a tech company behind JustPark who raised £3.7m in March.
With investments ranging from £10 to £500,000, money was raised from 795 individual investors, including VC investment from Episode 1 Ventures, Maxfield Capital Partners and Swiss firm Startive Ventures, as well as from the London-based accelerator Seedcamp.
Episode 1 and Maxfield Capital were both part of a multi-million pound fundraising earlier this year, which also included Seedcamp. Since eMoov first sought investment in 2013, when it received seed funding from James Caan, the company’s turnover has increased from £ 965,619 to an estimated £1.8m for the year end. eMoov is forecasting turnover in 2018 to be in excess of £39m largely driven by growth in the online sector, a new lettings proposition, upselling and global expansion. A further raise is planned in early 2016 with an IPO or private sale anticipated in the next few years.
Russell Quirk, CEO and Founder of eMoov, said: “We have been taken back by how well our crowdfunding campaign has gone. I never, in my wildest dreams, thought that we would get to £2.5m, two and a half times our target. It is an exciting time for online estate agencies with significant investment coming into the sector. We will continue to have the best tech platform and the best customer service in our sector and will push online estate agency to over 50 per cent of the market by 2020.
“On a personal note, I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who assisted with the campaign and to all those who invested. With this investment, our ultimate goal is to realize value for our 700 plus shareholders.”
Commenting, Simon Murdoch, Managing Partner at Episode 1, said: “Estate agency is one of the last industries to be disrupted by technology. The benefit of that disruption will be a fairer cost for the consumer, greater transparency and a customer empowerment that simply doesn’t exist when selling property in the UK currently. Episode 1 invested in the team at eMoov because we believe that it has the best approach to succeed and win, in a sector that will achieve an estimated 50% market share by 2020.”
Commenting, Alexander Lazarev, Partner at Maxfield Capital Partners, said: “eMoov’s crowdfunding success is a clear indication of a long awaited transformation of an old-fashioned industry. eMoov disrupts estate agency by providing significant savings and high quality customer services. A best in class team, commitment to deliver excellent customer experience, and robust technology solution are the key reasons why Maxfield has invested in eMoov. I am glad that crowdfunding investors have recognized this unique opportunity and contributed their capital to eMoov.”
Reshma Sohoni of Seedcamp, said: “I am a firm believer that customers should be investors and investor’s customers. It is fitting for such an innovative company to take to crowdfunding to raise capital. eMoov’s success with crowdfunding shows that hundreds of people believe as strongly in the innovation in the sector and that the online estate agencies like eMoov are really disrupting bad old ways to make buying and selling a precious home a better experience.”
