Invesdor and Åland government-backed venture capital company unveil co-operation
PRESS RELEASE 29 Nov 2016
Read the press release on Invesdor's site
- An agreement between Invesdor and Åland’s Utvecklings Ab provides companies based in the Åland Islands new opportunities to fund their growth
- The co-operation will provide the government of Åland a new tool for channelling European Regional Development Fund resources into companies on the Åland Islands
- Invesdor CEO and Finnish country manager can be met at Ålands Kapitalmarknadsdag (Åland’s capital markets day) on December 7th in Mariehamn
The leading Nordic equity crowdfunding platform Invesdor and Ålands Utvecklings Ab (ÅUAB), a venture capital company backed by the government of Åland, have begun a co-operation to broaden growth financing and investment alternatives on the Åland Islands. ÅUAB and Invesdor Ltd. signed the co-operation agreement on November 15th 2016.
The co-operation operates on a model in which ÅUAB will refer Åland based growth companies to raise funding on Invesdor’s platform. The primary intention of the agreement is to facilitate fundraising for companies from the Åland Islands by combining funding provided by ÅUAB with Invesdor’s crowdfunding offering. Furthermore, Ålandic investors will have easier access to both local and other Nordic investment targets via Invesdor’s platform.
As part of its duties, ÅUAB is responsible for investing capital provided to the government of Åland by the European Regional Development Fund for supporting Åland based small and medium sized enterprises. The Invesdor platform will provide ÅUAB with a new tool for making the investments, increasing the efficiency with which the Åland government supports local business.
Entrepreneurial roots run deep in the Åland Islands, so the entrepreneurial style of fundraising for growth that crowdfunding embodies fits Ålandic businesses well.
Camilla Gunell, Minister of Trade and Industry in the Government of Åland comments:
“This type of financing has successfully been applied in Åland throughout history, especially in shipping. The Ålandic people have been good at utilising large groups of shareholders. Now they will have access to a digital tool for this and thus a bigger market for financing companies in this way. This co-operation is therefore very good and fills a need of facilitating the raising of capital, which is an essential part of business policy.”
Danne Sundman, chairman of the board of Ålands Utvecklings AB comments:
“With this co-operation we have a tool that complements our financing instruments and ones available on the market in a way that broadens our capabilities to further help Ålandic businesses to have a good financing mix for growth in various stages of their development. The fact that companies can use the same platform and Invesdor’s services also for doing IPOs and list on a stock exchange lowers a threshold that has been quite high for small businesses in Ålandic business life.”
Lasse Mäkelä, CEO of Invesdor comments:
“The authorities in the Åland Islands are doing a great job actively working to grow their local economy, and Invesdor is happy to provide the means for making fundraising easier for Åland based companies. The people of the Åland Islands have long entrepreneurial roots, and we are very pleased to start working more with them.”
Invesdor CEO Lasse Mäkelä and Finnish country manager Thomas Petroff will be attending Ålands Kapitalmarknadsdag (Åland’s capital markets day) on December 7th, 2016 in Mariehamn to discuss with Ålandic businesses about their growth funding needs.
Contact:
Thomas Petroff, country manager Finland, Invesdor Ltd.
thomas.petroff@invesdor.com, +358 40 555 8340
Danne Sundman, chairman of the board, Ålands Utvecklings Ab
danne@aland.net, +358 457 3135 237
Mikko Savolainen, communications manager, Invesdor Ltd.
mikko.savolainen@invesdor.com, +358 40 747 5205
Ålands Utvecklings Ab in brief:
Ålands Utvecklings Ab (ÅUAB) is an Åland-based venture capital company that invests in startup companies. ÅUAB is a long-term minded and active investor that contributes with capital, competence and contacts. The Åland government is ÅUAB’s largest shareholder and ÅUAB’s overall goal is to increase employment, export earnings and profitability in the Åland business environment.
Invesdor in brief:
Invesdor is the Nordic market leader in equity crowdfunding platforms measured in invested capital and revenue in 2015. A financial technology (fintech) company founded in Finland in 2012, Invesdor operates an online investment platform that connects ambitious European growth companies with investors worldwide. So far Invesdor has helped raise more than 22 million euros and hosted more than 60 successful eqauaxbuity crowdfunding campaigns. Invesdor's clients include private and publicly traded companies from Finland, the UK, Norway and Denmark as well as investors from more than 50 countries. Invesdor has offices in London and Helsinki.