From crowdfunding to an IPO – two perspectives on financing growth
We heard from two professionals at each end of the spectrum when it comes to fundraising. One is the CFO of one of the few Welsh companies to have completed an initial public offering (IPO). The other used a crowdfunding platform to secure seed funding for a start-up company last year.
James Kilford, gave his first-hand account of using crowdfunding as a way of raising money. While increasingly common, this relatively new concept also presents unique challenges and problems.
Kilford is the co-founder and chief executive of Senta, a new cloud service to help accountants run their practice. The company raised more than £100,000 using crowdfunding platform Seedrs. He outlined the reality of using crowdfunding as a way of raising funds and dispelled some of the myths around this as a source of finance.
Haydn Evans has been through the process of listing a company on a stock exchange, several further rounds of fund raising – and delisting the company again.
Evans has been the Finance Director for Freshwater UK for over 13 years. During that time, he has taken the company onto the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) via an initial public offering (IPO), through several further rounds of fundraising, a subsequent de-listing, and the due diligence and financial integration of 13 acquisitions.
Prior to Freshwater, Evans spent 15 years in the telecoms sector working in both the UK and Europe. He is an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.