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Join Thousands of Irish Investors getting exclusive access to exciting Irish Startups

In May 2010, a private Startup run by two Irish brothers was valued at $2 million.  They couldn’t find investors in Ireland and so they raised funds in the US.  In April 2020 this company was valued at $36 billion.  If you had invested $1,000 in 2010, it would be worth $18,000,000 today. 

The name of the company is Stripe and it was founded by John and Patrick Collison from Limerick. 

Back in 2010, there was no platform through which Stripe could allow Irish investors to buy shares in companies like Stripe.  Today, there is – Spark Crowdfunding.

It is the only company in Ireland that offers equity crowdfunding and anyone with €100 to invest can join.

Dragons’ Den for Ordinary Investors

Equity crowdfunding gives private investors access to investment opportunities that were once only accessible to large Venture Capital firms.  

Think of equity crowdfunding as an online version of Dragons’ Den, where ordinary investors can become the Dragon.  When enough of these Dragons invest together, they become a ‘crowd’ and the crowd buys shares (or equity) in a private company as a group.    

Spark Crowdfunding

Established in Dublin in 2018, Spark Crowdfunding is simply an online platform that connects private Irish companies seeking to raise funds with ordinary Irish individuals who are interested in investing in Irish start-ups.  

The process is very straightforward.  A company uploads a campaign to the platform, which includes a video and a description of the business.  Investors make a decision on whether they wish to invest in the company or not - and can invest anything for €100 to €100,000.  The average investment size is roughly €2,000.      

Investors on the Spark Crowdfunding platform have invested in 14 Irish start-ups over the past two years, in amounts ranging from €50,000 to €560,000.  Many of these companies have also been funded by Enterprise Ireland.  

Case Study – Success Story

In December 2018, a car hire app called Fleet raised €384,000 from 132 investors on the Spark Crowdfunding platform at a valuation of €1 million.  The value of Fleet increased over the following 15 months, and in March 2020 Fleet raised more money at a valuation almost three times higher than the valuation at which the Spark Crowdfunding investors purchased their shares. And this doesn’t even include the 40% tax refund the Irish investors received on their investment.     

Generous Tax Refunds for Investing in Irish Start-ups

Investors who invest in most of the Start-ups on the Spark Crowdfunding platform can receive very generous tax breaks on their investments.  Specifically, investors can receive a 40% refund on investments in companies that are EIIS approved.  Therefore, a €1,000 investment would receive a tax refund of €400, regardless of how well the company performs.  Further information about this may be found in this article:   https://www.sparkcrowdfunding.com/blog/beginners-guide-to-the-eiis-scheme-for-irish-investors

How to Join the Crowd and Invest in Exciting Irish Start-ups

To access these investment opportunities, it is necessary to register as a member of the Spark Crowdfunding platform.  It’s free to join and there is no obligation to invest.  Click here whenever you are ready to join: https://www.sparkcrowdfunding.com/register

Perhaps your first investment could turn out to be the next Stripe!!

Fancy yourself as a bit of a Dragon?  We all do! 

But getting access to attractive deals is impossible and you probably don’t want to invest as much as the average Dragon.  And it would be nice to able to take some comfort from knowing what other investors like yourself think of the investment opportunity. 

Equity crowdfunding gives small to medium sized investors access to the types of deals only previously accessible to Venture Capital companies (or Dragons!).  The crowdfunding industry has exploded in popularity in the UK, USA and Australia as a simple, quick and low-cost way for startups to secure venture funding.   

We didn’t invent equity crowdfunding here at Spark Crowdfunding, but we were the first company to introduce it to the Irish market in mid-2018.  Since then, our investors have invested €384,000 in Fleet, the person to person Car Sharing App; €284,000 in Campsited, the Airbnb for campsites; and €147,000 in Wellola, a med-tech video consultation app.  Interestingly, all three of these companies are also Enterprise Ireland High Potential Startup companies. 

The minimum investment amount in each of these campaigns was €100 and this was designed to appeal to as many small and medium sized investors as possible.  This did not prevent larger investors participating also and each campaign had investors who invested €25,000 or more. 

Tax Rebate for Irish Investors in Irish Startups

Irish investors can also claim a tax rebate of 40% of the value of their investment in many of these startups with EIIS (Employment and Investment Incentive Scheme) status.  What this means is that an Irish taxpayer who invests €1,000 in one of these companies can reclaim €400 in the form of a tax rebate (€300 in year 1 and €100 in year 4).  This reduces the risk or maximum loss of a €1,000 investment to €600.  Please contact us for more information on EIIS.    

Benefits of Joining Spark Crowdfunding

If you are a small to medium sized investor interested in hearing about new investment opportunities in exciting Irish startups, where the minimum investment amount is typically €100 and where you can actively monitor the amount invested as each campaign evolves and discuss the merits of the investment opportunity with investors like yourself, then Spark Crowdfunding could be for you.     

How to Join the Crowd

Registration is free and only takes a couple of minutes.  New members must answer a number of questions to ensure they fully understand the risks of investing in startups.  Click here to register now.  Investors are under no obligation to invest in any campaign and, as we don’t hold investor funds, no deposit is required until a campaign completes. 

Spark Crowdfunding – Democratising the way in which Irish investors can invest in Irish startups.

If you are interested in signing up as an investor with Spark or would like to know more about raising funds for your business, please click on either of the buttons below: 

Risk Warning – Investing in Startups is high risk and investors could lose the full value of their investment.  Investors should only invest with money they can afford to lose.  We recommend all investors seek independent financial advice before proceeding with any investment.