Koodoo, new blockchain-powered global equity crowdfunding platform launches in the UK

Koodoo, a new global equity crowdfunding platform, has launched in the UK, to bridge the divide between commerce and social responsibility. Koodoo connects socially conscious investors with start-ups that are committed to social or environmental change, regardless of geography.

The global app-based platform, launching first in London, focuses on social impact investing, and will only enable fundraising campaigns that are specifically seeking to drive social change in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Investors using Koodoo to back socially impactful startups around the world will have the opportunity to invest using either their home currency, with payments facilitated by online payment provider Stripe, or Bitcoin, the leading digital currency.

The Koodoo platform sets out to be global from day one, powered by the blockchain, as a highly effective method of moving capital seamlessly across borders, Koodoo leverages the leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, for impact purposes, specifically global social impact, as a means of transferring value from one part of the world to another.

Koodoo’s application of the blockchain enables people – regardless of geography – to invest in small businesses around the world frictionlessly, and in return to receive shares in those businesses, more efficiently than any existing methods.

Koodoo is founded by global entrepreneurs from across Europe and Africa, including Brandon Kerzner, who will serve as chair of the platform. Michael Wilkinson, the former Operations Director of Crowdcube, will run the business as CEO.

Michael Wilkinson, CEO of Koodoo, said:

“There’s simply no truth in the notion that to invest in businesses that help the world you have to sacrifice returns. Equity crowdfunding can help make sustainable investing more mainstream and personal, however it needs to be global by default to succeed, Koodoo will be global from the start – something unique in the equity crowdfunding arena to date.

“Today if you have a great start-up idea in London, it’s not so hard to get financial backing, but if you’re in Buenos Aires, Budapest or Capetown, it’s a totally different story. That means great commercial ideas that can often generate genuine financial returns are not receiving the capital they need. Where those start-ups have the potential to create real positive social change, that’s a travesty we’re not going to accept.

“Koodoo is all about channelling investment support, using the most progressive technology available, to those people with the talent and vision to change our world for the better..”

Illtud Llyr Dunsford, CEO & Co-Founder of Cellular Agriculture, said: “We are excited to be part of Koodoo and the benefits it will bring to communities and individuals around the world. With the world population projected to hit 9bn by 2050, there’s an urgent need to consider the way we produce food without further exceeding planetary boundaries to the point of catastrophe. While the ambitious Net Zero targets set by the UK government have started a timer on this issue, rapid technology advancements mean that finding new ways to reinvent protein is ripe for innovation, offering unique investment opportunities for the future of what we are coining ‘grown meat’.”

Brandon Kerzner, Co-Founder and Chair of Koodoo, said:

“Koodoo represents a radically different approach to equity crowdfunding. We’re using new 4IR technologies not available at the birth of the crowdfunding industry and creating a new legal jurisdictional mesh to enable scalable, global reach. What’s more, with guidance from our Co-Founder and Koodoo’s Head of Blockchain, Gavin Marshall, we are pioneering new blockchain applications, amongst other novel technological approaches, to deliver a way for investors around the world to back what they consider the best and most socially impactful ideas, wherever they can be found.”

Koodoo is now open for pre-registration – to sign up visit www.koodoo.global/join