Andy Murray Serves an Ace Backing British Entrepreneurs on Leading Equity Crowdfunding Platform Seedrs

LONDON, October 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

• Tennis champion Andy Murray OBE backs best of British Tech on leading equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs
• Andy Murray invests in WeSwap and Perkbox through Seedrs
• Murray's investment portfolio on Seedrs includes 17 early-stage businesses

Tennis champion, world number two Andy Murray continues to back early-stage businesses as part of his strategic relationship with Seedrs, today identifying two ambitious British Tech companies, Perkbox and WeSwap, investing undisclosed amounts into each.

Perkbox, the UK's leading perks and benefits scheme, quickly surpassed their £1.5 million target on Seedrs, currently overfunding by 270% with more than £4 million raised through 230 investors in just four days. Murray joins VC firm Draper Esprit which led the round with £2.5 million investment, alongside Zoopla's Alex Chesterman.

The startup which launched in January 2015, already has over 300,000 paying members including British Gas, BUPA and Deliveroo and has generated more than £14 million in revenues since launch. The company is the go-to solution for combatting staff turnover and low productivity in the workplace, encouraging managers to reward team members.

WeSwap, the world's first peer-to-peer travel money platform, has so far raised £1.8 million from over 2,200 individual investors including Ascot Capital and is overfunding by 185%. In the past 12 months the disruptive startup has grown by 204%, welcoming over 200,000 new users to the WeSwap community. Called the people's currency exchange, WeSwap exchanges currency directly between real people, so users receive the fairest rate by cutting out the middleman.

Murray said about the investments, "I'm continuing to grow my portfolio through Seedrs and have tried to choose companies from different sectors as much as possible. I was interested in Perkbox as I employ a number of people through my own sports management company, the 77 Group, as well as a number of independent contractors like physios, coaches and trainers. I'm sure they'll all be wanting to hear lots more about Perkbox! WeSwap was interesting to me because I travel so much around the world - I thought this was a really clever idea and could immediately see the gap in the market for this business to work."

Saurav Chopra, CEO and co-founder of Perkbox: "We're delighted that Andy Murray has chosen to invest in us. He is really carving out a reputation for himself as an avid supporter of fast-growth businesses, and we're very proud that Perkbox will become part of his burgeoning portfolio of exciting and dynamic businesses. Andy Murray has previously emphasised how important it is for him to back up businesses who hold the same dedication, hunger and professional standards as he does, and we're thrilled that he sees these very same values manifest in the people here that power the Perkbox brand."

Jared Jesner, CEO and Co Founder of WeSwap: "We are delighted and overwhelmed to have exceeded our funding target with more than £1.8 million invested into our campaign on Seedrs so far. Over 2200 members of our community have backed WeSwap, all of whom will play a part in our future success. Having a tennis hero like Andy Murray invest in the campaign as part of the crowd has truly been the icing on the cake."

Jeff Lynn, CEO and co-founder of Seedrs: "It's great to see how active Andy has become in early-stage investment and his recent investments on Seedrs into Perkbox and WeSwap reaffirm this. He is a great example of an investor who understands this asset class and the importance of building a broad investment portfolio, into which these two disruptive tech brands will add even more diversity."

About Seedrs 

Seedrs allows all types of investors to invest as little or as much as they like (from £/€ 10 up) in businesses they believe in and share in their success. And it allows ambitious businesses in all sectors to raise capital and build community through an efficient, online process.

Seedrs has funded over 400 deals to date and has had over £160 million invested into campaigns on the platform. All investments made through Seedrs offer voting shares to investors and use professional-grade subscription agreements. This ensures that investors get the same level of protection that angel investors and venture capitalists enjoy.

Seedrs is backed by star fund manager Neil Woodford, Lord Rothschild's Augmentum Capital, Faber Ventures and over 1,000 of its own customers. Seedrs was the first equity crowdfunding platform to be authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority.

About Andy Murray 

Andy Murray, currently ranked number two men's professional tennis player in the world, is the British No.1, 2012 US Open Champion, 2013 and 2016 Wimbledon Champion and only man to win back to back Olympic Singles gold medals (at the London 2012 Olympic Games and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games).

From winning his first tournament as an under-10 junior at the Dunblane Sports Club to his first junior major at the US Open it became apparent Andy was destined for the top. After turning pro in 2005, Andy won his first ATP title, the SAP Open in San Jose, a year later. Fast forward two years and seven more tour titles, Andy reached his first grand slam final, the 2008 US Open. However in 2012, having lost in three subsequent grand slam final appearances, Andy became the US Open Champion.

This was hot on the heels of an illustrious Gold Medal victory at Wimbledon during the London 2012 Olympics. Andy then ended years of British heartbreak on the same turf just a year later by becoming the first British male in 77 years to win the highly coveted Wimbledon Championships in London in July 2013. Currently on 41 career titles, Andy is Great Britain's most successful tennis player of the Open era, the first Briton to reach 500 ATP match wins and his maiden grand slam title ended Great Britain's 76-year wait for a male grand slam champion.

Contact: Seedrs, Lucy Sharp, PR & Communications Director, lucy.sharp@seedrs.com, +44-7932404012