UK Investing App Freetrade Surpasses Fundraising Goal By 800% in First Day of Crowdfunding

U.K. investing app Freetrade exceeded its fundraising goal by more than 800% in its first of seven days of fundraising on crowdfunding platform Crowdcube, pulling in more than 8.1 million pounds ($10.8 million), according to Freetrade’s investment page. More than 6,100 investors have contributed investments, according to Crowdcube.

Freetrade, a commission-free investing app, has more than 1 million users and 1 billion pounds in client assets, according to the company’s crowdfunding video.

“Freetrade is growing fast,” Freetrade Founder and CEO Adam Dodds said in the video. “Our mission remains the same: Get everyone investing.”

The funding round is the London-based startup’s seventh since the company was established in 2016, according to a Wednesday (Nov. 24) Financial Times report. Funds will be used to advance Freetrade’s move into cryptocurrencies, according to the report.

The funding round follows this week’s announcement that crypto exchange Bitpanda has partnered with French mobile financial services platform Lydia to enable the app provider’s more than 5 million users the ability to trade and invest in more than 170 digital assets on Bitpanda’s crypto exchange.

See more: Lydia App Users Can Now Trade Crypto Assets on Bitpanda

Also, this week, Crowdcube, the U.K.-based crowdfunding platform Freetrade is using for its funding round, announced it had notched $13.5 million in a funding round, with a stake valued at approximately $10.5 million in the business coming from Circle Internet Financial, LLC, owner and operator of SeedInvest. The collaborative effort between the companies will pave the way for fundraising to support every stage of business development, from seed stage to public offering.

Read more: Circle Invests in Crowdfunding Platform Crowdcube With $10.5M Stake

The United Kingdom appears ripe for investments. During the first 12 months of the pandemic, more than 7 million consumers opened investing accounts, according to the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority.

Investments in global health technology startups have surged in 2021, hitting $51.3 billion, according to PYMNTS. The U.K. has the second-highest number of health technology companies, with 1,090 companies receiving funding since 2016.

See also: UK Leads EU in Driving Global Growth In HealthTech Sector