There is no fee for becoming a member of Crowdcube’s investor community.
When you make an investment on the platform, Crowdcube charges an investment fee of 2.49%which is now subject to a minimum of €2.49 and remains capped at a maximum of €250. This is collected when the payment for your investment is processed by Crowdcube.
We also charge a 5% success fee if you make a profit on your investment when the Company you invested in finally exits. This is to service the ongoing support we provide to represent your interests as a shareholder. However, we will waive this fee where we arrange a secondary liquidity event for you and other investors prior to a full exit. In this case we will charge a liquidity fee of between 4% and 7%. This is to service the support we provide during the course of your investment and the cost of arranging a liquidity event.
Investment Fee
When making an investment, a fee of 2.49% of the amount invested is applied to each investment. The investment fee, including the exact amount being applied to your investment, is outlined in the investment process before your investment is pledged. This fee, which is subject to a minimum of €2.49 and is capped at a maximum of €250, is collected when the payment for your investment is processed by Crowdcube.
The investment fee covers some of our costs associated with providing access to investment opportunities on the platform. This includes:
- The running and optimisation of the Crowdcube platform, which enables investors to access some of the most exciting and ambitious businesses from the UK and overseas 24/7.
- Our compliance and legal team, which undertakes the due diligence outlined in our Due Diligence Charter to ensure a pitch is ‘fair, clear and not misleading’ for investors.
- Managing the completion of an investment including payment capture, anti-money laundering (AML) checks and issuing of share certificates.
- Providing support to investors, both during and after a campaign. Investors can contact us down the road and we will always be available to help.
For example:
| Your investment | Crowdcube’s investment fee | Total amount collected |
| €10 | €2.49 (Minimum fee of €2.49 applied) | €12.49 |
| €250 | €6.23 (2.49% fee applied) | €256.23 |
| €2,500 | €62.25 (2.49% fee applied) | €2,562.25 |
| €12,500 | €250.00 (€250 cap applied) | €12,750.00 |
| €25,000 | €250.00 (€250 cap applied) | €25,250.00 |
| €250,000 | €250.00 (€250 cap applied) | €250,250.00 |
Success Fee - full exit of company
The success fee aligns our long-term success to yours, so is only payable if you make a profit on your investment when a company you invested in is finally sold; there are no annual fees for the ongoing support we provide once you’ve made an investment. If you make a return on your investment at the point of exit, you’ll keep 95% of any profit, and we’ll take a 5% fee for managing your investment over the years. If your investment doesn’t make a profit on exit, then there is no charge.
For example if you invest €10,000 and receive a return of €100,000, you’ll receive your €10,000 investment back, as well as 95% of the €90,000 profit, which equates to €95,500. Crowdcube’s success fee would be €4,500, which equates to 5% of the €90,000 profit.
The success fee, which is sometimes also known as ‘carry’, covers all the work we undertake to manage your investment. This includes:
- Liaising with companies to ensure you are kept up to date with key business updates, and where relevant, managing investor votes to ensure you have your say on important business decisions.
- Managing pre-emption and follow-on rounds to ensure you can maintain your stake in the company and continue to fuel its growth.
- Taking care of all the admin needed to receive a return on your investment when a business you have invested in exits, pays a dividend or sells shares via a secondary share sale.
You can read more about the support we provide to businesses in your portfolio and the work we do to enhance your post-investment experience here.
Crowdcube’s success fee only applies to profits made on investments in businesses that opened to investment on or after the 1st of April 2021 and only applies when a “full exit” of a company occurs.
Liquidity Fee - secondary liquidity event before full exit
Crowdcube is committed to seeking secondary liquidity opportunities for its investors. Investing in early stage private companies is by its very nature a long term investment, however Crowdcube will seek to arrange secondary sales of investor shares from time to time.
A secondary transaction or liquidity event can take a number of different forms, including where an institutional buyer offers to buy some or all of Crowdcube investors’ shares, or where a Company works with Crowdcube to allow Crowdcube investors to sell to new Crowdcube investors. These events are by their nature highly complex and difficult to execute. In addition, investors can choose not to sell their shares in a secondary transaction, whereas in most cases on a full exit, Crowdcube investors are “dragged” as minority shareholders - i.e. compelled to sell.
Crowdcube will therefore charge a liquidity fee of between 4% and 7% for arranging a secondary liquidity event and will not charge investors a success fee at that point. The liquidity fee covers the preparation and handling of legal documentation, completing required AML/KYC and other compliance checks, and payment facilitation, as well as all third party transaction costs associated with these elements of the secondary. Crowdcube has also invested in acquiring technology and expertise to deliver these secondary transactions on behalf of investors, in our aim to provide investors with liquidity. Crowdcube is a regulated entity and in these transactions we work to assess the market and ensure investors are getting a fair value.