Crowdfunding is a method of funding a project or organisation by pooling the money of individual investors. It can provide a number of benefits beyond the financial including marketing, audience engagement and feedback. Crowdfunding allows good companies which don't fit the pattern required by conventional financiers, to break through and attract cash. There are a number of types of crowdfunding but the 3 main categories are:

• Reward or donation based crowdfunding – these are not investments
• Loan crowdfunding (often referred to as peer-to-peer loans or debt crowdfunding)
• Equity crowdfunding

Want to know more?

Please visit the UK Crowdfunding Association – ShareIn are one of the founding members.

NESTA have written a comprehensive introduction to crowdfunding. You can read it here.

Equity crowdfunding is a great way to match companies who need funding with individuals who wish to invest. Investors become shareholders and have partial ownership of a company. Individuals get a share in the future success of a company they believe in. If the company fails investors can lose some, or all, of their investment.                          

When you invest or top up your wallet, funds should be transferred to 'ShareIn Ltd'. Share In Ltd holds client monies in segregated accounts.

Share In Ltd (Firm Reference Number 603332) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

The transfer details will be available at the time of investing.

Investing in companies listed by Equity Spark involves risks, including loss of all your capital, illiquidity, lack of dividends or interest, and dilution of share capital, and it should be done only as part of a diversified portfolio. This type of investment is only for investors who understand these risks. 

A full risk warning can be found here.

You can lose all the money you invested but nothing more.

No. Equity Spark would like to keep their list of investors private.

For a significant investment, we would be more than happy to enter into separate discussions as to whether we can accommodate this. It will be dependent on your particular circumstances and the regulatory framework in your country of residence. Please contact us at [email protected] if this interests you. Please note residents of US or Canada cannot invest through Equity Spark platform. 

In order to invest via this platform you must be categorised as a "client" for regulatory purposes. All investors are required to successfully complete the "Appropriateness Test". All UK individual investors are treated as retail clients.  

All UK investors using this platform are eligible to file a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Investors may be able to claim compensation under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme in cases where they believe they have been mis-sold. However, there is no FSCS cover for investments into the products offered by Equity Spark. Before it is invested or once the proceeds of investments are returned, your money will be held by the money recipient in a client account and subject to separate protections applicable to credit institutions and banks.  

Different regulations apply in different regions and before being able to invest you will be asked to confirm that you meet the eligibility requirements in your particular region.  

You can cancel your investment offer at any point before the funds are transferred by emailing [email protected]

We want to give you superb customer service but sometimes things might go wrong. We can usually resolve most issues straightaway, so please email us on [email protected] to tell us how we can help.

What you'll need to tell us so that we can help you:

• Your personal details,
• What's gone wrong and
• What you want us to do to put things right.

We'll be in touch with you as soon as we can and let you know what will happen next. We'll try to resolve your complaint within 10 working days. For more complex issues it's likely that we will need longer to look into what's happened and we may ask you for further information to help us reach a decision. We'll give you regular updates. And once we've dealt with your complaint, we'll go back and see what we can learn from your experience.

If you're unhappy with the outcome UK Residents can ask the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) to carry out an independent review of your complaint. In any event, you have the right to ask the FOS to review your complaint if we've been unable to resolve it within 8 weeks.

The FOS can help UK residents with most complaints if you are:

• A consumer
• A business employing fewer than 10 persons that has an annual turnover that doesn't exceed €2 million
• If you are unsure whether the FOS will consider your complaint, please contact them directly for advice. The service the FOS provides is free and impartial and contacting them at any stage of your complaint will not affect your legal rights. The contact details for the FOS are:

The Financial Ombudsman Service
South Quay Plaza
183 Marsh Wall
London
E14 9SR

Their phone numbers are +44 (0)300 123 9123 or +44 (0)800 023 4567.

You can send an email to: [email protected]

• “Best execution” means achieving the best possible result for customers when carrying out their orders via an execution venue. 

• An “execution venue” refers to a facility that brings multiple parties together for buying and selling. This could be a regulated market, a multi-lateral trading facility (MTF), organised trading facility (OTF) or other entities that perform this role. 

One of your rights under data protection law is the right of access to the personal data that we hold about you. The process of requesting your data is called a Subject Access Request (SAR).

How to ask for a SAR If you want a copy of the personal data we hold (or simply want confirmation as to whether or not we process data about you), you must make a request, either in writing or verbally. Our contact details are here. Please include the following in your SAR:

• Your full name, postal address, email address and telephone number
• The statement “I the undersigned and the person identified above hereby request that Equity Spark (1) inform me of the personal data held about me OR (2) provide me with a copy of the personal data Equity Spark hold about me.”

[If request made in writing] Signature and date

What you can expect from us

Before releasing personal data we may have to take steps to confirm your identity. This could include requiring a piece of photo identification or answering a number of security questions related to your account.

Once we verify your identity, we will log your request, and we will search all databases to find any personal data we currently hold.

We will provide an electronic copy of your personal data within a month of your request.

Please be aware that there are circumstances in which the law allows us to extend the response time or charge an administrative fee. In either case, we will inform you by email within one month of receiving your request.

What you can do once you receive the data we hold

Once you receive the data we hold, you have the right to ask for data to be corrected or erased.

Please be aware that we may not always be able to erase personal data we may hold about you. If your personal data relates to an investment you have made, financial services regulation requires us to keep certain information on file for a period of 5 years.

In the event you have a complaint about the way we have handled your personal data or your SAR, you can count on us to take your complaint seriously.

If you feel your data protection rights have been violated and you do not feel you have had a satisfactory response from us , you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

We will review any possible conflicts of interest that could harm investors and manage or eliminate these conflicts if and when they arise.