Crowdcube Becomes One Of the UK’s First Authorised ‘Public Offer Platforms’ (POP) For Retail Investors Under Landmark FCA Reforms

Crowdcube, Europe’s largest private market investment platform, announces it has become the one of the first and leading retail investment platforms in the United Kingdom to be authorised as a Public Offer Platform (POP) by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

This milestone follows the activation of the Public Offers and Admissions to Trading Regulations (POATR) on January 19, 2026. These regulations represent the most significant overhaul of UK capital markets in a generation, replacing the legacy EU Prospectus Regulation with a more agile, disclosure-based regime designed to boost London’s competitiveness against the EU.

Prior to this legislation, private companies were capped at raising €8 million (approx. £6.8 million) from the public without the prohibitive cost and complexity of publishing an FCA-approved prospectus. Under the new POP regime, Crowdcube can now facilitate uncapped primary public offers by private, unlisted companies—up to and including large-scale pre-IPO rounds—without a prospectus.

“The introduction of the POP regime is a watershed moment for the UK’s ‘Scale-up’ economy,” said Matt Cooper, Co-CEO of Crowdcube. “For too long, the ‘equity gap’ for companies between earlier-stage growth financing and a full London listing has seen retail investors excluded from the value creation that can happen at that later stage of a company’s journey. As one of the UK’s first authorised Retail Public Offer Platforms, Crowdcube now provides the regulatory ‘bridge’ that allows high-growth companies to raise significant capital from their customers and retail investors with minimal friction.”

With the POP status, Crowdcube will continue to move from a provider of early stage primary capital to a regulated “gatekeeper” for retail access to the late stage private markets.

Key benefits for Crowdcube’s 2 million-strong investor community includes access to later-stage primary funding rounds, with investors now able participate in £10M, £50M, or £100M+ Pre-IPO rounds that were previously restricted to institutional players.

The POP authorisation follows Crowdcube’s recent partnership with the London Stock Exchange (LSEG) to provide retail access to the Private Securities Market (PSM) via the PISCES sandbox. Together, these two regulatory pillars allow Crowdcube to support a company’s entire lifecycle:, all while remaining private.