Seedrs

Seedrs was one of the two platforms that created UK equity crowdfunding. Founded by Jeff Lynn and Carlos Silva and launched in 2012 under FCA authorisation, it let retail investors buy shares in early-stage companies through a nominee structure and later ran a secondary market. A proposed merger with rival Crowdcube was abandoned in 2021 after the Competition and Markets Authority signalled it would block the deal. US private-investing platform Republic then agreed to acquire Seedrs at the end of 2021, in a deal reported at around $100M, completing in 2022. On 10 July 2024 the platform stopped trading as Seedrs and rebranded as Republic Europe, with John Lake as managing director. The legal entity Seedrs Limited remains the FCA-regulated operator, but the Seedrs brand and independent business no longer exist.

Acquired by Republic; the platform, team and investor base continue under the Republic Europe name. City A.M. reported falling deal volumes and revenue ahead of the name change.

The CMA's intervention in the Crowdcube merger pushed Seedrs towards a foreign buyer, and the brand was absorbed once the parent wanted a single global identity. Crowdfunding volumes in the UK had fallen sharply by 2023-24, squeezing platform revenue.