St Pancras’ Sourced Market beats £750,000 funding target with a minibond series on Crowdcube
Sourced Market, the artisan food market based in St Pancras station, has raised £765,000 in a mini bond series on crowdfunding site Crowdcube.
The shop/cafe offers a range of artisan food and fresh produce curated from across London's markets and local delicatessens, and will use the investment to fund its expansion with new sites in Victoria and Marylebone planned for next year.
The bonds, which offer an annual eight per cent interest rate over the four-year term, paid every six months, were on offer for a minimum investment of £500. The fundraiser, which launched early in November, has beaten its £750,000 target ahead of its deadline on Saturday.
Crowdcube says minibonds offered on the platform are unsecured, non-convertible and not covered by the financial services compensation scheme.
Sourced Market, which launched at St Pancras in 2009, currently serves 12,000 customers a week. In the year ending September 2015, sales rose 14 per cent from the same period last year, and in 2014 the business generated £2.9m in net revenue.
Ben O’Brien, founder of Sourced Market, said:
We are thrilled to have secured all of the £750,000 ahead of schedule. The support that has come in from our existing network and new investors has blown us away. We’ll repay that loyalty by wasting no time in pushing ahead with our plans to set up new markets in Victoria and Marylebone and continue to bring our high quality, locally sourced artisanal produce to even more people.
Hampers, free beer and coffee, and catered parties were also on offer to tempt investors.