Nextfin is an FCA approved aggregation and rating portal for equity and debt crowdfunding investments.
AIM is shrinking, legacy stock markets are too expensive to maintain and do not serve the requirements of SMEs, banks are closing branches, lending less and are paying little or no interest to investors. As a result of this, there is a huge growth in equity crowdfunding and P2P lending which has seen the launch of hundreds of alternative lenders & platforms that has created a new c.£3bn marketplace, expanding at 66% p.a. There is no single portal or trusted ratings index for investors to compare on a like for like basis and no secondary market to facilitate exits.
* NextFin is the new trading name of Business Agent Ltd
The solution
NextFin aggregates equity and debt crowdfunding investments to create the alternative finance marketplace. This makes it easy for investors and lenders to find and compare opportunities by presenting all investment offerings in one place. With the addition of a free of charge ratings service investors will be able to view ratings of every equity crowdfunding pitch, every P2P site, and every equity crowdfunding site. NextFin’s technology will constantly track these companies and investments providing the investor real-time intelligence on which to base investment decisions. The platforms and entrepreneurs will be self-promoting and marketing their ratings driving thousands of visitors a month to the NextFin site, in the same way, businesses refer their potential clients to Trip Advisor and Trustpilot. There is an estimated 10 million website/platform visitors per month across the whole of the alternative finance market. NextFin is targeting to direct 5% of this highly profiled traffic to its platform from which it will earn between £5-£8 per click from advertisers and partners. In addition, an in-house brokerage service also earns between 1%-6% commissions on loan placements. A future revenue stream (not featured in the financials) will be developed once visitor traffic reaches critical mass. This will see Nextfin being able to realise the full value of its captured ratings data and visitor traffic by launching a secondary market, which is estimated to be a £5bn marketplace.
NextFin is raising £500k at a pre-money valuation of £2M to: • Develop P2P and Equity site ratings• Expand the management, infrastructure and marketing resource• Increase visitor traffic to 6m a year via rating referrals
Owing to the size of the market and rapid growth of the industry, enterprise valuations in alternative finance are based on visitor traffic, market share and registered users. Recently published valuations of companies with visitor traffic of over 6m per year are in excess of £70m. NextFin is the market-leading aggregator and has first-mover advantage. It has the potential to exceed these valuations because it is the whole of the market aggregator and is currently the only ratings service provider as it grows to achieve 500,000 visitors p.m.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£274,057
KindLink are a social network for donors and charities so donors are able to make a donation to their favourite charity and help them help other people. Donors are able to see the impact of the donations they are making by following the progress of the charity and updates for the project donated to. KindLink establishes a direct connection between donor and beneficiary to create a close and community-like feel.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£25,045
Rebel Energy (RE) is an energy supplier on a mission to address inequality and provide everyone with easy access to clean and affordable energy, to eventually eliminate fuel poverty. RE claims that fuel poverty led to 16,500+ cold-related deaths in the UK in 2018. RE argues that as the UK home electricity market enters a phase of growth in a post-COVID world, it will be focused on offering reliable customer service and develop strategies that help people who are struggling with their electricity bills. The company has applied for a B Corporation accreditation. RE asserts that its customer support systems are automated and can handle multiple queries simultaneously. It plans to offer a weekly direct debit payment option. RE will use the investment to grow its business across different verticals.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£503,810
Creative Hub is a fast-growing cloud software platform for creative people to store, share files, and collaborate on projects. The collaboration tools also allow users to chat in real-time, and add comments on images, allowing creative teams to work faster and deliver better results. Creative Hub enables users to order professional art & photographic prints, or physical 3D prints, which are produced at its print production facilities in London(UK) and Dusseldorf (Germany). The platform currently has 40,000 active users which are growing day by day. With the investment, the company will drive growth through marketing and launch its New York production facility.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£286,992
Mapal Aeration Solutions provides the answer for municiple and industrial wasterwater treatment plants of any type and size to release clean water. This innovative patented solution focuses on providing energy-saving and maintenance advantages. Mapal says they have a successful installation track record in over 100 projects across 9 countries. The company is currently seeking funds to fuel its growth and expansion efforts.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£467,504
ExpoCart is a marketplace that helps businesses in easily hiring and buying furniture, printed displays, floor coverings and more for exhibitions and events by a chain of suppliers. The company has built a customer base of 3500+ companies from 75+ countries. It has a strong supplier network and connections formed with a range of UK event and exhibition suppliers and, it has received a score of 8.5 on TrustPilot. The funds will be used to accelerate product range, strengthen the digital marketing channels and launch new technological platform features.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£269,841
Qardus is an ethical and Sharia-compliant financing platform for social impact Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and investors. Qardus asserts that the 3.8 million Muslim community in the UK, and 25 million in Europe, is massively underserved when it comes to accessing interest-free (Sharia-compliant) structures. It intends to change this. Qardus offers up to £200,000 in innovative interest-free business financing to eligible SMEs for tenors of up to 24 months and is Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approved. Qardus points out that it has provided over £250,000 in financing to some high social impact SMEs during the COVID-19 pandemic, maintained a 100% track record with a 0% default rate to date, and featured in media entities like Sifted, Islamic Finance News, Peer-to-Peer Finance News, and Fintech Futures amongst others. It will use 30% of the investment on marketing costs for acquiring SMEs and investors on its platform, 60% on growing its team, and 10% on obtaining additional licenses to expand its services.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£313,009
Business Finance Market (BFM) is a financial technology platform that stimulates the market towards Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) lending via data in the UK. BFM claims that SMEs are gradually being excluded from mainstream banking. The company cites that in 1988, 40% of all bank lending went to SMEs. BFM points out that lending today is closer to 4% with an estimated £22 billion funding gap to the 5.9 million UK SMEs. BFM asserts that almost 90% of SME loan applications are stuck due to a lack of choice and transparency when it comes to securing finance. BFM aspires to solve this dilemma. It states that its technology allows SMEs to experience quicker finance decisions based on true addressable market access and allows lenders and intermediaries access to its platform to help manage the end-to-end application process, improve deal flow, and deliver faster credit decisions. BFM intends to exit via a trade sale within the financial sector.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
Withheld
Investly are an invoice financing marketplace that help European businesses finance their invoices by bringing them the best price from multiple providers. In 2 years they have financed just over £18m worth of invoices.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£679,085
Earth Broadband stands out as one of the UK's pioneering green broadband providers, revolutionizing the way people use broadband services for environmental good. Founded by Luke Chapman in 2022 after witnessing climate change effects in Indonesia, the company aims to reshape broadband services, offering wildlife-themed packages and facilitating monthly contributions to planet-saving initiatives. Using innovative AI technology, Earth Broadband enhances customer service while empowering users to contribute to environmental causes by planting trees and removing ocean plastic through their app. The company's strategy focuses on achieving large-scale impact with a small, efficient team, aiming to revolutionize broadband provision.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£308,580
