Seedrs opens investment into Worth Capital’s ‘Big App Fund’ supported by Facebook
London, 1st September 2014 – Leading equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs today opens investment into Worth Capital’s ‘Big App Fund‘, which will invest in up to four winners of a pan-European competition, supported by Facebook, to find the very best new Apps in retail and e-commerce.
The competition itself will be promoted heavily by Facebook, who are providing significant media support to help recruit a top field of contestants, and the winners will enjoy mentoring from Worth Capital.
The Big App Fund, run by Worth Capital, is seeking to raise £350,000 on Seedrs, offering each investor a share of the fund’s holdings. The Fund will invest up to £150,000 in the winner, and up to £100,000 in each of the runners up, securing 10% to 30% equity in each business, dependent on each business’s current performance and potential. The minimum investment per investor is £100.
The competition itself – called The Big App 2014 – aims to find the best young UK or European retail or e-commerce App businesses. Facebook is supporting the competition with a major targeted online advertising campaign and a big PR push to UK and international media.
The competition launches today, kicking off with a campaign on Facebook and launch of the Big App Fund on Seedrs. The best 100 entrants will attend a Pitch Day at Facebook’s London HQ on October 27th with the aim of progressing to the finals. The best 10 applications will enter the final judging event to be held on 17th November at Facebook’s HQ. All judging will be carried out by an impressive panel of experts.
The Mobile App market is one of the world’s fastest growing sectors, riding on the back of the huge uptake of smartphones and other mobile devices across the world. Last year, 1.25 devices were sold, and Portio Research (2013) predicts there will be more than 4.4 billion Mobile App users by 2017. Notably, 80% of consumers’ time on mobile devices is spent using apps, equating to 160 billion minutes per month globally. Not surprisingly, the investment market is following the money. Venture capital firms invested $3.5 billion in Mobile App business in 2013.
Paul Soanes, Managing Partner of Worth Capital, said: “After the extraordinary success of our first fund on Seedrs, Worth Capital is delighted to announce the launch of our next project – the Big App Fund. The Big App is a European-wide business competition to search for the best new mobile app entrepreneur. Our search will be supported by our new partner Facebook, who will provide huge exposure to entrepreneurs across Europe. Based on the record breaking success of our first fund, Worth is raising a fund of £350k on Seedrs to invest in the winner and up to three runners up.”
Deborah Hale, Business Marketing Director at Facebook EMEA, said:
“We’re very excited to help power the search for Europe’s next young entrepreneurs. The Big App Fund is a great opportunity for entrants looking for the funding and mentorship they need to get off the ground. Fostering innovation on mobile is central to Facebook’s role in helping businesses of all sizes grow and be successful and so we’re really happy to lend the programme our full support. For the investors, the fund represents a very attractive opportunity as the competition is the ultimate filtering process.”
Jeff Lynn, CEO of Seedrs, said: “This is a very exciting competition and investment opportunity. The Big App Fund offers private investors an ideal way to gain a slice of the action in this hugely expanding market. The added value of an expert panel picking the best companies to invest in, the mentoring these companies will get and of course Facebook’s support in recruiting entrants and the promotion of the winners makes this a genuinely unique opportunity for investors.”
