Collider is set to become the first UK-wide accelerator to crowdfund investment in its startups, as it starts a campaign on Seedrs today.
The advertising and marketing tech accelerator is opening up £330k of its £1m fund to investors from all over the UK.
The investors, who must put forward at least £100, will own a share in the ten startups from Collider’s class of 2015.
The remaining £670k will be raised from industry experts.
‘Back its own future’
Collider has said that the decision to crowdfund is “to get the UK’s marketing and advertising industry to back its own future”. Of course, any one who wants to can invest in the crowdfunding campaign.
Jeff Lynn, founder and CEO of Seedrs, explained that it was a first for the platform to have a campaign that focuses on a specialist crowd. He added:
It provides a unique opportunity for marketing and advertising professionals to own a stake in the technologies that will be shaping the industry over the coming years.
Collide and conquer
Collider’s mission is to see the UK become a world-renowned hub for advertising and marketing tech.
The accelerator’s USP is its relationships with some of the UK’s biggest brands who commit their time and experience to the startups, many of whom go on to raise investment from the brands and forge useful relationships for both parties.
The hope is that with frequent exposure to the brands, startups can truly understand the customer pain-point they are trying to solve and shape their product and proposition accordingly.
In the past brands have included the likes of BBC Worldwide, Unilever and William Hill.
Since the programme launched, Collider startups have raised £3.7m in funding and signed over £1m worth of deals with brands.
Collider now offers £50k to startups for 11% equity and then offers a further £100k to five of the startups for another 11%.
It recently announced it will be taking London-based startups in its next cohort, which it was previously forbidden to do.
UPDATE: This article originally said that Collider was the first British startup to crowdfund investment in its startups. It is in fact the first UK-wide accelerator (but not the first in the UK) to do so, and the article has been corrected.