A social platform where gamers play, share, discover and buy games, gamesGRABR is the first technology company to receive funding from the London Co-investment Fund (LCIF) via Crowdcube. Launched late last year to invest £25m in London-based seed stage companies within Technology, Digital and Science over the next three years, the LCIF includes a number of investment partners with Crowdcube as the only crowdfunding platform selected. The fund is managed by Funding London and supported by the London Enterprise Panel, which is chaired by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.
Earmarked for high growth firms making the transition from start-up to growth phase and typically for companies looking to raise between £250,000 and £1m, the LCIF is also being used to attract private sector investment with a target of £2.90 of private investment for every £1 invested by the LCIF.
The LCIF has co-invested £100,000 to the amount raised by gamesGRABR via crowdfunding – the first time the public fund has co-invested alongside ‘the crowd’ – bringing the total amount raised on Crowdcube, through individual investors and the LCIF to £454,000.
With plans to become the biggest social network for gamers, Tony Pearce, CEO of gamesGRABR, says: “We are so proud of this latest round of funding and the attention gamesGRABR has attracted. Our unique approach of creating a community ‘by gamers for gamers’ who want to be part of our growth along with key investors has been incredible. With this new funding round we can begin to scale up our global PR and marketing efforts plus add to our successful partnerships with vgloggers on YouTube. Our vision is to be the biggest social network for gamers, the place to find everything you love about gaming and this funding will set us well on the way.”
Maggie Rodriguez-Piza, CEO of Funding London said: “Crowdfunding is becoming an increasingly significant avenue for funding technology businesses and we are delighted to support gamesGRABR and Crowdcube in this funding round.”
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson said at the time of LCIF’s launch: “London’s tech sector is flourishing and the city is a hotbed of talented young and ambitious people buzzing with exciting ideas who are setting up new companies in their droves. Despite this boom, we know that many budding start-ups find it difficult to raise the finance they need to grow. This new fund will ensure the tech-giants of the future can get the support they need to bring their ideas to reality and deliver jobs and growth for the capital.”
“We were honoured to be selected as the only crowdfunding partner for the London Co-investment Fund and proud that the first investment via the Crowdcube platform has raised well over its original target,” adds Luke Lang, co-founder, Crowdcube. “It’s testament to the success of gamesGRABR that the LCIF chose it as an investment opportunity and we’re delighted that gamesGRABR chose once again to raise money via Crowdcube. With £5m of co-investment allocated to Crowdcube, we are keen to help more of London’s finest technology start-ups benefit from LCIF over the next 12 months.”
GamesGRABR initially raised more than £175,000 on Crowdcube a year ago, overfunding on its original target of £150,000. Since its launch in 2010, the company has grown rapidly and secured major deals with retailers like Apple, Amazon and GAME.
