About

The main problem for projects and companies is access to funding.

While funding is the number one issue for our customers, projects being investment ready is a priority for our investors. We serve both needs.

Fundsurfer has secured a number of major partnerships to provide our customers with access to startup loans, business/ commercial finance, social-funding, peer-to-peer lending, green investment and more.

Fundsurfer also offers funded investment readiness support as the second biggest problem our customers have after funding requirements is help and support to get investment ready or ready to crowd fund. The support offered includes Funding Workshops, one to one training and coaching, business boot camp and where applicable 6-12 months free office space as part of a tailored business incubation and acceleration program. We have secured this through a partnership with ‘Get Set For Growth’, supported by Department of BIS and the Regional Growth Fund.
History

Oliver Mochizuki and Derek Ahmedzai created Fundsurfer with the fundamental objective of ‘making funding simple’.

Although Fundsurfer initially set out to provide crowdfunding and alternative finance services exclusively, the founders have seen and responded decisively to the need for a more sustainable funding model, which meshes traditional funding sources, such as grants, equity/debt/angel investment and loans, with alternative and collaborative finance to increase overall impact. Rather than be one of the many UK platforms which are essentially ‘Kickstarter Clones’ the Fundsurfer team moved to establish themselves as an alternative funding platform for amazing projects and companies.

We are helping bridge the gap and build deal-flow between funding providers and Fundsurfer users.
 
Crowdfunding: the ability to raise large amounts of money from hundreds or thousands of people is revolutionising the finance industry. The founders have worked with many customers who need to raise money but have been refused a loan by their bank. Crowdfunding allowed them to raise money on their own terms.

Broker model – working with the very best in industry. With 50% commission split with our broker network. Fundsurfer is able to increase sales with minimum outlay of capital on sales staff.

There are lots of competing online fundraising solutions available, but most assume a level of technical expertise and project management that few people possess. This is core to Fundsurfers offering. We are increasingly approached as ‘experts’ within the Fintech and alternative finance fields and we are using these platforms to promote Fundsurfer and create a name in the industry as a thought leader.

Fundsurfer offers a range of different funding options, helping their customers create, manage, promote and fund their campaigns. They also offer the ability to raise money offline, as well as online.

There are 5 emerging alternative finance trends:

1. Competitive Market
2. Need services being added
3. Specialized alternative finance is emerging
4. Going Global
5. Converging on platforms
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1. It’s getting more competitive: The market is continuing to become more competitive with new platforms entering the alternative finance sector. This should be celebrated as it is positive news for SME’s with competition leading to more choice, better results and lower fees

2. Existing players are adding to services: Many alternative finance companies that were started to serve consumers have expanded into business finance and some of them created with business first are now eyeing individuals.

3. Niche and specialised alternative finance is emerging: There are platforms aimed at student debt, film finance, gaming, property development and more. There is a split between peer-to-peer lending, crowdfunding and loans.

4. It’s going global: The alternative finance market is not limited to the UK, there are alternative finance providers popping up all of the world in Africa, Asia, India, Canada and the US. Many of these platforms are now partnering with institutional funds as we see a drive to scale up the businesses and take market share. However we are still a distance away from fully inter-connected global deal synchronisation.

5. It’s converging on platforms: With the biggest hotel company in the world – AirBNB - not owning any hotels and the biggest taxi company in the world – UBER - not owning cars it’s clear to see platforms are offering many choices, all at once. Connected marketplace approach is developing on sites like Fundsurfer, innovation is going to drive change in the fin-tech space and will be very helpful to small businesses, who may not have known about all their options