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Life Science Equity Crowdfunding Site, Capital Cell, Makes Short List for Prestigious UK Business Angels Association’Best International Growth Business’ Award

29 Jun

The UKBAA’s Black-Tie Investment Awards 2017 Dinner will take place on July 6th, at the Dorchester Hotel, London, with over 300 leading innovators and investors assembled to celebrate

By Robert HoskinsCrowdfunding PR

London, United KingdomCapital Cell, Europe’s first equity crowdfunding platform specialized in life science, has been shortlisted for the prestigious ‘Best International Growth Business‘ award at the UK Business Angels Association Investment Awards 2017.

Life Science Equity Crowdfunding Site, Capital Cell, Makes Short List for Prestigious UK Business Angels Association Best International Growth Business Award

Life Science Equity Crowdfunding Site, Capital Cell, Makes Short List for Prestigious UK Business Angels Association Best International Growth Business Award

Capital Cell is Europe’s first equity crowdfunding platform specialized in life science. Capital Cell opens life science investment to everyone by sourcing the most innovative early-stage life science companies, and presenting them on a regulated online investment platform. In recognition of their contribution to the European life science ecosystem, the company has now been shortlisted for the Best International Growth Business award at the UK Business Angels Association Investment Awards 2017.

“We are absolutely thrilled that Capital Cell has been recognized so early on in it’s expansion into the UK,” says Laura Ferguson, UK Director. “The reception to our arrival has been overwhelmingly positive from players throughout the life science ecosystem, including specialized investors such as Angels in MedCity, with whom we are collaborating closely, as well as the NHS innovation, science parks and startup incubators. It’s wonderful to have that traction formally recognized.”

“Capital Cell has proven itself as a platform for early stage investment in a very challenging environment,” Chairman Ian Tomlinson added. “We are extremely excited about scaling up in the UK, which is a global leader not only in life science innovation but also in equity crowdfunding. As an investment area, life science has the potential for both huge social impact and significant financial returns and the companies listed on Capital Cell are all trying to solve a major unmet medical need. By opening up these investment opportunities to more people we hope to be able to help the UK remain at the cutting edge of life science commercialization.”

Capital Cell has been trading in Spain for just over two years, and has successfully closed 14 life science crowdfunding campaigns, including the country’s largest life science crowdfunding campaign of over €1.2M, for a potential therapeutic cure for MS.

Scaling-up from this Spanish platform, Capital Cell UK has just launched at www.capitalcell.co.uk, with a range of companies solving unmet needs from malaria control to female fertility enhancement and autoimmune disease.

The UKBAA black-tie awards dinner will take place on July 6th, at the Dorchester Hotel, London, with 300 leading innovators and investors assembled to celebrate the best of UK business.

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Robert Hoskins, a seasoned Front Page PR veteran provides more than twenty-eight years of external communications, media relations, digital social media and SEO skills to Front Page PR’s crowdfunding PR and media relations service portfolio.
Robert Hoskins
(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR


Mr. Robert Hoskins is a seasoned marketing veteran with a proven track record of helping entrepreneurs, startups, small businesses as well as Fortune 500 corporations launch successful marketing communications campaigns to gain market traction for a wide variety of products and services.
On a regular basis, Mr. Hoskins consults with crowdfunding campaign managers as well as crowdfunding sites, portals and platforms to deliver successful crowdfunding marketing campaigns.
Google search “Robert Hoskins Crowdfunding” to see why Mr. Hoskins runs one of the industry’s foremost crowdfunding PR, social media and marketing agencies that has amassed a huge social media following and is dedicated to supporting a wide variety of donation, rewards and equity crowdfunding campaigns.

 

 

 

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Crowd Cow Opens New Unique “Cow Crowdfunding” Marketplace to Pre-Sell Premium Cuts of Grass Fed Beef to Consumers Nationwide

7 Jun

U.S. consumers can now pre-order the healthiest and best-tasting, sustainably-raised beef from independent ranchers via the world’s only online dry-aged beef crowdfunding platform

Seattle, Washington – Just in time for Father’s Day and the summer barbeque season, food tech startup Crowd Cow announced that it is now shipping to beef lovers throughout the U.S. The sharing economy’s latest big idea allows consumers to buy portions of an actual cow online with strangers by claiming their favorite cuts, tipping the cow and becoming a “steak holder.” Backed by the likes of NFL great Joe Montana, the founders of Zulily and venture firms such as Fuel Capital and Maveron, Crowd Cow now makes it fun and convenient for consumers nationwide to order from independent farms, and enjoy the great taste and transparency of sustainably-raised beef.

U.S. consumers now have convenient access to the healthiest and best tasting sustainably raised beef from independent ranchers

U.S. consumers now have convenient access to the healthiest and best tasting sustainably raised beef from independent ranchers

Whole Cow, Whole Country
Crowd Cow cuts out the middleman to bring sustainably-raised beef direct to consumers, including access to beef that’s hard (if not impossible) to find in stores like grass-finished Black Angus and sought-after varieties like Wagyu — all of it dry-aged and hormone and antibiotic free.

Crowd Cow’s unique whole-cow, independent ranch approach means more transparency for consumers and greater reach for farms. “We hand-select the best producers and bring their beef to consumers everywhere, pairing every shipment with recipes and support. As a result, marrow bones and tongues sell out as quickly as tenderloins and nothing goes to waste,” says co-founder Joe Heitzeberg.

How Crowd Cow Works
Crowd Cow features a particular ranch, detailing their story and practices in a short video and web page. Users select from the cuts of a single animal, choosing as much or as little of the exact cuts they want. When everything is sold, the company ships direct to their door with recipes and a welcome note from the founders.

Food Study Trends and Consumer Reports
The company’s success to-date aligns with growing consumer demand for visibility into where food comes from. According to the Food Revolution Study, 94 percent of consumers say it’s important for brands to be transparent about what is in their food and how it is made. At the same time, a Consumer Reports survey found that 80% of consumers think better living conditions for farm animals is important. By featuring specialty beef producers with each event, and detailing how they feed and treat their animals, Crowd Cow is at the forefront of shifting the beef industry towards a more sustainable model in demand by health-conscious consumers.

Crowd Cow Was Founded by Tech Start Up Veterans
Crowd Cow was founded in 2015 by startup veterans Ethan Lowry (Urbanspoon) and Joe Heitzeberg (Madrona Venture Labs). After hearing a friend brag about how much better beef from independent ranches was, but discovering that it is typically only sold to specialty restaurants, high end butcher shops or in quantities of 300 to 600 pounds at a time, they sought out a better solution.

“Our friend told us we’d need a meat freezer, a pickup truck and a few thousand dollars in cash,” explains Heitzeberg. “Ethan suggested that we utilize crowdfunding to pre-sell cows so 50 people could each purchase 5 to 10 pounds of quality, dry-aged beef.” After emailing 100 friends, the first cow was sold in 24 hours and was delivered in time for July 4th BBQs.

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Robert Hoskins, a seasoned Front Page PR veteran provides more than twenty-eight years of external communications, media relations, digital social media and SEO skills to Front Page PR’s crowdfunding PR and media relations service portfolio.
Robert Hoskins
(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR


Mr. Robert Hoskins is a seasoned marketing veteran with a proven track record of helping entrepreneurs, startups, small businesses as well as Fortune 500 corporations launch successful marketing communications campaigns to gain market traction for a wide variety of products and services.
On a regular basis, Mr. Hoskins consults with crowdfunding campaign managers as well as crowdfunding sites, portals and platforms to deliver successful crowdfunding marketing campaigns.
Google search “Robert Hoskins Crowdfunding” to see why Mr. Hoskins runs one of the industry’s foremost crowdfunding PR, social media and marketing agencies that has amassed a huge social media following and is dedicated to supporting a wide variety of donation, rewards and equity crowdfunding campaigns.

Using Equity Crowdfunding Sites to Finance Incubators and Accelerators at Leading U.S. Colleges and Universities

15 Mar

Launching an Equity Crowdfunding Ecosystem to Fund College / University Incubator and Accelerator Programs

By Robert Hoskins

Financing Incubators & Accelerators

Most large colleges and universities in the United States have an Entrepreneurship Center or something similar, but schools in smaller population centers lack the presence of well-staffed Incubators and/or Accelerator programs that are necessary to provide students with access to professional, seasoned business, finance, investment and marketing mentors. The value of providing wisdom gained over 20 to 30 years of real world experience from subject matter experts is a critical part of the startup mentoring process.

And even with the right team of mentors in place, these incubator and accelerator programs will need their own investment syndicate to a yield sufficient pool of investors to amass enough investment seed capital to fund startups that advance from an incubator to an accelerator program.

The benefits of providing investment capital are clear to everyone but sometimes the biggest challenge for smaller communities is aggregating the first million dollars to get started and maybe another 4 million dollars to keep the program funded until startups progress far enough to be purchased by a larger company or go through an Initial Public Offering (IPO).

The minimum startup capital needed to finance 10 startups per year at $100,000 each will require at least a million dollars. Sometimes there simply are not enough local resources to achieve this goal.  This challenge showcases the value of equity crowdfunding sites and how marketing equity crowdfunding sites on the internet can make it possible for remote angel investors and venture capitalists to shop for potential investment opportunities at your school from anywhere in the world.

SBIR/SBTT Technology Transfer Programs

Colleges and universities can also tap into federal funding via Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (SBTT) programs that offer up to $2 billion per year of funding for university incubators and accelerator programs.  Competition is fierce for this funding, but with right application it is possible to obtain funding.

Learn more about crowdfunding:

 

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Want to learn more about equity crowdfunding?

Please fill out this form to get started:

Starting a University Equity Crowdfunding Ecosystem to Build Better Alumni and Local Community Relationships

12 Mar

Crowdfunding Sites Provide Alumni with a Personal Way to Begin Investing in their Alma Maters’ Promising Startups and Reap the Benefit of Making a Lot of Money if They Invest in the Right Projects

By Robert Hoskins

Stimulating Alumni and Local Community Engagement

Establishing an Equity Crowdfunding Ecosystem is a great way for colleges and universities to reconnect alumni with their alma maters and engage them to begin investing in the school’s future.  

Unlike giving donations to a school with no idea of how the money is going to be spent, investing directly in equity crowdfunding campaigns not only gives alumni a way to give back to the university that that helped launch their careers, but also provides them with a personal way to begin investing in creative projects that are near and dear to their hearts as well as reap the benefit of making a lot of money if they invest in the right projects.

Building an Equity Crowdfunding site to market college and university projects to alumni and the rest of the world can help:

  • Build Better Relationships with Alumni;
  • Migrate Alumni from Blind Donations to Targeted Equity Investments;
  • Generate Substantially More Revenue to Finance School Programs;
  • Increase Long-Term Return on Investment; and
  • Produce Much Better  Global University Marketing Opportunities.

Equity Crowdfunding Sites are Great Marketing Tools

Not only do crowdfunding campaigns provide a great opportunity for students to raise money for their startup companies, but the marketing that is done to drive investors to their crowdfunding profiles is a great way for colleges and universities to market their school’s brand name and recruit new students in a similar manner to running TV advertisements during college football and basketball games.

The difference, however, is that instead of producing a bland 10,000 ft. overview of a college’s academics, research and development facilities and a fly over of the university campus, each equity crowdfunding campaign has the opportunity of demonstrate exactly what is actually going on inside their R&D departments, computer science data centers and bio-tech wet labs. It is a new way to streamline the Technology Transfer process.  

Equity Crowdfunding is a much more cost-effective way to bring new technology and businesses to market and can earn schools substantially more money via equity investments than licensing agreements or royalty deals. 

Entrepreneurship Centers, Incubators and Accelerators

In addition, crowdfunding sites allow schools to promote the fact that they are now offering entrepreneurship centers, co-working spaces, incubators with mentorship programs and accelerators that can help raise money to fund new startups.  Equity crowdfunding ecosystems and alumni angel networks will make is possible to attract more millennials, smarter entrepreneurs and aggressive startup high-tech and bio-tech companies seeking a fertile environment in which to launch their business ideas.

For example, look at the successful marketing campaigns that the Coolest Cooler or the Pebble Time SmartWatch crowdfunding campaigns are generating for Kickstarter.  Not only are they transforming Kickstarter into a global brand, but with 18 days left to go the Pebble Time SmartWatch has raised over $17 million. These marketing, PR and social media campaigns have generated massive amounts of free, positive and credible publicity. The same type of exposure can be generated for any college that has startups marketing their university’s equity crowdfunding campaigns via the internet and social media networks.  

Equity Crowdfunding Generates Nice Revenue Streams

Not only is the free, positive publicity great for promoting a school’s brand name, but collecting a fee similar to Kickstarter’s five-percent crowdfunding site commission fee is also a great way to make money to fund the school’s incubator and accelerator programs.

For example, the Pebble Time SmartWatch crowdfunding campaign’s site commission fee will deposit more than $1,000,000 into Kickstarter’s bank account for doing little more than setting up an e-commerce site. A simple task for any computer science college. 

College and university crowdfunding sites will start slow at first like Kickstarter did but given the strength of the university’s mass communication department, it could be much quicker.  Regardless, over a five-year period, a school’s crowdfunding site has the same opportunity to create a massive crowdfunding ecosystem like Kickstarter’s which to date has collected almost ~$2 billion in investment seed capital over the past 5 years.  

It you are a school administrator, what would injecting $2 billion into your Technology Transfer Office do for your college or university?  And that is straight rewards-based crowdfunding.  What would the same $2 billion return if just 10% percent of your startup companies went public and raised $100 million each? Once the first several dominos fall the financial returns would sufficient enough to continue growing a stronger pool of wealth with each generation of graduates. This method is precisely how Palo Alto, San Jose and San Francisco built the Silicon Valley in California into a global angel investor and venture capital powerhouse.

Alumni, Mentors and Future Students

Future students, leading mentors and disconnected alumni will suddenly have a purview into exciting projects and developments that are percolating behind the scenes in a very similar manner to Kickstarter. Crowdfunding will make it possible for the local community and general public to see the huge innovations that are going on behind the scenes, which will create the desire to get involved in the process so they too can strike it rich. Suddenly, alumni will be very motivated to keep in touch and invest often. 

Conclusion:

The crowdfunding industry is clearly fueling a new generation of makers that realize that it is more possible now than ever to bring their creative ideas to life with other people’s money, not just on the east and west coasts, but anywhere in America.

Learn more about crowdfunding:

 

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Want to setup an Equity Crowdfunding Ecosystem for your college?

Please fill out this form to get started:

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