Crowdfunding is a way for entrepreneurs, companies, charities and other projects to raise money from a wide group of people - the crowd. For businesses, it’s a cost effective alternative to raising capital from traditional sources such as high street banks. For everyday investors, it’s an opportunity to support a great idea and share in its success.

CrowdBnk is a website where people can raise funding for their ideas or support ideas they believe in. We’re a UK registered company (company number 07706111) and our registered office is at TechHub @ Campus, 4-5 Bonhill Street, London, EC2A 4BX. You can find out more about us here.

Yes. CrowdBnk Ltd is an appointed representative of BriceAmery Capital Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

The Financial Service Authority is the independent body that regulates the financial services industry in the UK. The FSA exists to maintain confidence in the financial system, to contribute to its stability, to reduce financial crime, and to protect consumers.

If a business like CrowdBnk wants to arrange and promote equity investments in companies in the UK, it needs to be authorised by the FSA. For that to happen, we have to have the right controls and processes in place to make sure we communicate information to potential investors in a way that’s clear, fair and not misleading. We need to prove that we protect the interests of investors, especially those that haven’t invested in shares before. We also need to take care to make sure that the investment opportunities we list are genuine, that the people behind them are real, and that the businesses are prepared to be accountable to their shareholders if they become a plc.

Anyone can list a project on CrowdBnk, as long as they’re over 18 years old and they’re a UK resident.

You can list three types of projects:

1. A business that’s looking for investment and offering shares in return. In exchange for receiving funding you will issue shares in your company to investors. If you select this option you will be required to use a plc structure.
2. A business that’s looking for financial support and offering rewards in return. In exchange for receiving funding you will offer rewards to your supporters (e.g. free products, services or discount cards).
3. A registered charity that’s looking for donations. If you have a great social venture you can use CrowdBnk to encourage your supporters to donate.

We believe that any idea deserves the chance to be heard. But we won’t list any projects on CrowdBnk that involve the production, sale, distribution, marketing or any other support for pornography, weapons, military defence or gambling. And we won’t list any projects that are based primarily on real estate or financial services.

You need to either click "Create a project" from the main menu or by clicking here. If you are not currently an entrepreneur it will take you through a quick upgrade process first.

No, but under FSA regulations, if you want to list a for-profit project that’s offering shares to everyday investors, you need agree to either create a new plc, or convert an existing company to a plc, before you receive any funds. We provide template documents to help you with this process.

The most important difference is that a plc can offer its shares for sale to the general public. A plc has additional audit and reporting requirements.

Yes. To list a project on CrowdBnk, you need to agree to use our approved company structure and documents. Creating your own documents is very expensive, both for you to create and for us to review. Using our templates keeps it simple for everyone.

A project stays listed for 90 days unless you withdraw it earlier or you hit your funding target.

Anyone can invest or support via CrowdBnk, as long as they’re over 18 years old and they’re resident in the UK.

You can invest in three types of projects:

1. A business that’s looking for investment and offering shares in return
2. A business that’s looking for financial support and offering rewards in return
3. A registered charity that’s looking for donations

To invest in a project offering shares or to donate to a project, you need to make sure that there’s enough money in your "My Wallet" account. If there is, you can then allocate all or part of your money to a project by clicking on the "Invest Now" button on the project page and confirming the amount you’d like to invest.

You will get what the project offers. This may be shares in the company, rewards, or both. Any share investment will be subject to the subscription agreement that you sign up to at the time you invest.

You could be investing in any type of company from small family businesses to the next big thing, from early stage start-ups to companies looking to step up to the next level.

Owning shares gives you a direct interest in the profits of the company. If the company is successful and pays dividends, you will be entitled to a dividend for each share you own. Then if the company is ever sold, you will share proportionately in the sale proceeds.

No. Any investment in shares is risky and there is a chance that you will lose the amount you invest in a project if it is unsuccessful.

If you have invested in a project and it doesn’t reach its minimum funding you will be refunded in full. Your user account will be credited with the amount of money you originally committed to the project.

Investing in a business always carries some risks – not every business makes enough profit to pay a dividend to its shareholders, and some businesses fail. To make sure CrowdBnk members can afford to bear any potential losses, we set a limit on how much they can invest in any year. We work this out automatically based on how much each member earns and how experienced they are as an investor.

Listing a project is free. For any successfully funded project, we will charge a success fee of 5% of the total funds raised, plus a fee equal to 3% of the total funds raised to cover the cost of payments processing. For successful equity projects, we also charge a £1,000 flat fee to cover the preparation and processing of all legal documents related to the project.

It’s free. Unlike other places, we don’t have any hidden fees or charges.