Equity crowdfunding platform Crowdcube has raised £10 million ($13.5 million) in its latest funding round.

The UK-based investment platform said the round would enable Crowdcube to accelerate its launch into Europe, capitalising on the recent regulation that provides uniform rules across Europe for capital raising and retail investment services.

Under the rule change, companies in the UK and EU will now be able to raise up to €13m from retail investors in a single offering of either primary or secondary shares (€8m from UK investors and €5m from European investors).

Crowdcube announced earlier this month that it will be the first platform with pan-European and UK regulatory approvals, giving members access to cross-border equity opportunities.

The round was led by Circle Internet Financial, LLC, the owner and operator of SeedInvest, a leading startup fundraising platform in the US.

Announcing the strategic investment from Circle, Crowdcube said that it marked the alignment of two of the most prominent platforms in their respective markets.

Crowdcube is currently the largest crowdfunding platform in Europe with 1.2 million members and £1 billion invested to date.

The FinTech’s valuation has increased by 57 per cent to £140 million since its last funding round in 2018.

The latest investment, in which existing backers Molten Ventures (formerly Draper Esprit) and Balderton Capital also participated, supports Crowdcube’s goals to enable entrepreneurs to raise capital from their communities wherever they are in the UK or Europe and is Circle’s largest strategic investment to date in the European market.

Darren Westlake, chief executive and co-founder of Crowdcube, said: “In the first instance, we’re considering a crowd round to offer Crowdcube’s community of investors the opportunity to participate in our round, alongside Circle, supporting our growth as Europe’s preferred private investment marketplace”.

“Combining Circle’s strategic investment with our decade of knowledge and experience of capital raising in Europe, Crowdcube is extremely well positioned to capitalise on our first-mover advantage into Europe’s high growth investment market. Capital raising and private company investing have never been so exciting.”

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