Equity crowdfunding enables small and medium-sized investors to buy shares in early-stage companies on the same terms as large Venture Capital or Private Equity firms. Gone are the days when private investors needed to have a minimum of €500,000 before they could get access to start-ups with high growth potential.
With Spark Crowdfunding, Ireland’s only equity crowdfunding service, Irish investors can invest from as little as €100 in Irish start-ups. While this low entry level of just €100 makes these investment opportunities accessible to almost everyone, the average investment amount made by an investor on the Spark Crowdfunding platform is actually €2,300.
Most of these investment opportunities are what’s known as EIIS qualifying, which means Irish Taxpayers can recover 40% of the amount they invest as part of their tax returns. So, for example, if you invested €1,000 in one of these companies, you would receive a Tax Rebate the following year of €400, regardless of how the investment performs. In effect, this means that the maximum you can lose is 60% of your investment.
Click here if you would like to join over 8,000 Irish investors and get access to investment opportunities like these: https://www.sparkcrowdfunding.com/register
Busterbox raises new funds at an 88% increase on last year’s valuation
One such investment opportunity on the Spark Crowdfunding platform in the Summer of 2020 offered investors shares in a Dublin-based company called Busterbox, which is a Dog Subscription Box service. Every month, thousands of dog owners pay approximately €20 to have a box containing treats for their dog delivered directly to their house. The business was growing rapidly before Covid but experienced a boom in activity when more people were spending time at home with their pets.
Busterbox raised funds from 82 Irish investors on the Spark Crowdfunding platform in September 2020 at a share price of €1. Such was the growth in the business over the next 12 months that a significant industry partner invested €250,000 in Busterbox at a share price of €1.88.
This translates into an 88% increase in the value of an investment in Busterbox just 12 months previously. But, when you include the 40% EIIS Tax Refund the return on investment over this 12 month period is significantly higher.
In simple terms, if you had invested €10,000 in Busterbox, it would really only have cost you €6,000, and the value of your investment is now worth €18,800. An increase in value from €6,000 to €18,800 is actually a 213% increase in investment. (Do the Maths!!)
What’s more, investors on the Spark Crowdfunding platform pay 0% commission when purchasing shares. There are no hidden costs and it’s free to open an account.
Over the last 3 years, Spark Crowdfunding has offered 26 investment opportunities to Irish investors.
If you are interested in signing up as an investor with Spark, click below: