Review Time
I invested in multiple companies via Crowdcube including Curve, Citymapper and IKIGAI. Every single one resulted in a total loss.Startups failing is not the issue. Risk is part of early stage investing. What is deeply concerning is the structural position retail investors occupy within these deals.In the case of Curve, the company was sold and ordinary shareholders received nothing due to liquidation preferences and capital structure hierarchy.Citymapper followed a similar path. The company was acquired by Via Transportation after years of financial pressure. While presented as a strategic acquisition, there was no meaningful upside for nominee retail investors. Again, ordinary shareholders sat at the bottom of the distribution waterfall.Across multiple investments, the pattern is clear:• Retail investors hold ordinary shares• Institutional investors hold preferred shares with liquidation preference• Later funding rounds introduce stronger protective rights• Retail investors cannot participate in key dilution events• In downside exits, proceeds are absorbed before reaching nominee shareholdersCrowdfunding is marketed as democratised venture investing. In practice, retail investors assume venture level risk without venture level protections.After multiple total losses, I no longer believe the risk reward structure is aligned fairly for small investors.Before investing, understand:• Share class hierarchy• Liquidation preference terms• Down round implications• Dilution mechanics• The real legal position of nominee shareholdersHigh risk is acceptable. Structural disadvantage should not be disguised as opportunity.Proceed with extreme caution.
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