Veeqo is one of Wales’ most successful tech start-ups, and an online crowdfunding veteran. The company has completed several funding rounds on Seedrs, raising the target amount each time, and attracted many high profile investors in the process -including New Look founder Tom Singh.

Veeqo is a web based software for online retailers which allows them to sync their stock levels from their website to their POS, Amazon and eBay sales channels in real time. The software also integrates into courier systems, so retailers can bulk print shipping labels very quickly without having to copy and paste customer data into separate system.

In April, Veeqo completed it’s most recent Seedrs campaign, raising nearly £700,000 to fund an expansion to the US. With so many crowdfunding platforms around, it’s crucial to pick the one that will give your venture the biggest shot at raising its capital. Veeqo CEO Matt Warren found Seedrs the best option:

“For me, Seedrs had the best online presence. I liked how open it all was, you could instantly see who invested in your business, and how the investors could ask questions.

“I also liked how it wasn’t too intrusive in regards to future cash flow. Of course, having a business plan and being aware of your overheads is critical, however estimating what sales will be in year three was near on impossible.”

Undoubtedly, Seedrs has had plenty of positive press lately. With Andy Murray joining the board and raising its profile, the platform is one of the sectors biggest success stories.

However, Seedrs have several opportunities online at once – and with thousands of campaigns raising funds over different platforms, it can be difficult to get your project to stand out.

Having successfully met his target several times, Warren’s strategy seems to be working. According to him, spreading the word and creating traction is key:

“I researched the businesses that had failed to raise the cash they needed. They had rarely got above 2% funding and a lot of them even stayed at 0%. This amazed me. It begged the question why would some stranger invest in you, if you couldn’t find a few friends to put £10 in. So from this I decided to email everyone in my address book asking for their help, and a lot of people invested which I never thought would have.

“After we got 40% funded it was downhill, the speed of new investors increased rapidly. What I would advise is perhaps to get at least 10 people to confirm they will invest and get them registered in advance, before your proposal is live. Even if it’s just £10.”

As you might expect, creating a user-friendly, engaging profile is another way to ensure success. Warren’s advice is not to underestimate the value of a video:

“We were also encouraged to make a video of our product in the beginning. In hindsight, we should have invested in a short, 60 second professional explainer video. This would have gained us more investors as what we presented was homemade and as un-slick as you could have imagined”

Seedrs also offer support for entreprenuers as well, both with the legal side of the project, and attracting investors. According to Warren, this gives them the edge over other platforms:

“Seedrs organise regular events, so it’s worth asking if you can pitch at one of these events in front of their investors.”

For further information on Veeqo for your business, visit veeqo.com. Veeqo offer a 14 day free trial on their software.

 

 

Miranda Wadham on 20/08/2015