Don't invest unless you're prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong.
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Risk Summary

Estimated reading time: 2 min

Due to the potential for losses, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) considers this investment to be high risk.

What are the key risks?

  • You could lose all the money you invest
  • Most investments are shares in start-up businesses or bonds issued by them. Investors in these shares or bonds often lose 100% of the money they invested, as most start-up businesses fail.
  • Checks on the businesses you are investing in, such as how well they are expected to perform, may not have been carried out by the platform you are investing through. You should do your own research before investing.

You won't get your money back quickly

  • Even if the business you invest in is successful, it will likely take several years to get your money back.
  • The most likely way to get your money back is if the business is bought by another business or lists its shares on an exchange such as the London Stock Exchange. These events are not common.
  • Start-up businesses very rarely pay you back through dividends. You should not expect to get your money back this way.
  • Some platforms may give you the opportunity to sell your investment early through a 'secondary market' or 'bulletin board', but there is no guarantee you will find a buyer at the price you are willing to sell.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket

  • Putting all your money into a single business or type of investment for example, is risky. Spreading your money across different investments makes you less dependent on any one to do well. A good rule of thumb is not to invest more than 10% of your money in high-risk investments. Learn more here.

The value of your investment can be reduced

  • If your investment is shares, the percentage of the business that you own will decrease if the business issues more shares. This could mean that the value of your investment reduces, depending on how much the business grows. Most start-up businesses issue multiple rounds of shares.
  • These new shares could have additional rights that your shares don't have, such as the right to receive a fixed dividend, which could further reduce your chances of getting a return on your investment.

You are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong

  • Protection from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), in relation to claims against failed regulated firms, does not cover poor investment performance. Try the FSCS investment protection checker.
  • Protection from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) does not cover poor investment performance. If you have a complaint against an FCA-regulated platform, FOS may be able to consider it. Learn more about FOS protection here.

If you are interested in learning more about how to protect yourself, visit the FCA's website here.

For further information about investment-based crowdfunding, visit the crowdfunding section of the FCA's website here.
Insights
Company News
Jenna Taylor
· 1 min read
· Updated on

GrowthCapitalVentures appoints tech expert to advisory board

KarlWe're delighted to announce the appointment of Head of IT Architecture for Shop Direct and former Lead Enterprise Architect of Everything Everywhere to our advisory board.

Stepping into the role of Technology Advisor, Karl Wintrell brings with him a wealth of tech-focused experience and expertise which we know will help to support the execution of our growth plan.

As a financial services business operating online, GrowthCapitalVentures sits in the fast-growing FinTech sector. We are constantly introducing and utilising new technology and digital techniques which aid people who want to raise, lend, borrow, or invest growth capital. It’s great to be able to have someone completely tech-focused advising us in this as we move forward.

COO, Craig Peterson, said: “Having someone of Karl’s expertise join GrowthCapitalVentures at this early stage of our journey is fantastic and we’re delighted to have him as a key member of the advisory board.

We want to make sure we have the right people in the right positions; people who understand just how big this market is and where we need to position ourselves. Karl’s come on board, not only as an advisor, but as an investor too, which is a great vote of confidence from someone who can see the high growth potential of our business.”

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Co-founder and CEO, Norman Peterson, added, “It’s all about recruiting the correct talent; someone who can advise both the in house team and outsourced providers to enhance development and deepen the technology on the platform. Karl has that ability and his experience is deep, relevant and current.”

With 15 years of experience in both the management and architecture of enterprise-class, web-based applications, Karl has been responsible for £10M+ project implementations and is currently working as Chief Architect and Head of IT Architecture for Shop Direct, the UK’s fourth largest online retailer and home to digital department stores including Very.co.uk.

Karl said, “I’m very excited to join the GrowthCapitalVentures advisory board and offer my skills as their Technology Advisor. Globally, the FinTech sector is huge and alternative finance solutions, such as equity crowdfunding and peer to peer lending platforms like the ones GCV are developing, have the potential to become very important indeed. I’m looking forward to helping the team achieve their goals and taking GrowthCapitalVentures to the top.”

The appointment of Karl Wintrell comes at a very exciting time for us here at GrowthCapitalVentures as we are currently in the process of raising funds in our Seed round. Our original target was £150,000, which we hit in just 10 minutes, and immediately went into overfunding.

 

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Growth Capital Ventures (GCV) is backed by funds managed by Maven Capital Partners, one of the UK’s leading private equity and alternative asset managers.