Henderson subsidiary acquires crowdfunding firm

Henderson fund managers Rob Giles and Adam McConkey (pictured)have bought into the crowdfunding craze with an acquisition through a subsidiary owned by their hedge fund Volantis.

Crowdfunding platform FundThe Gap has been acquired for an undisclosed amount by Darwin Strategic Limited, majority owned by the Henderson AlphaGen Volantis hedge fund.

FundTheGap was founded in 2012 and launched six months ago to focus on helping companies looking to raise up to £2 million in finance from private investors.

FundTheGap chief executive Derek Uittenbroek, said: ‘This is a tremendously exciting opportunity for us to work closely with – and have the support of – an experienced and specialist team that is as focused as we are on helping growth companies to access capital’.

Uittenbroek will be joining Darwin as part of the deal to head up the new operation, while fellow founders Martin Sherwood and Christian Elmesm, retain stakes in the new business and Ken Ford becomes a non-executive director.

Darwin chief executive Anand Sambasivan said: ‘We share the view that providing alternative funding options to the growth companies is crucial to the sustained growth of the global economy in the future.’

The Financial Conduct Authority is believed to be looking at carrying out a review of the crowdfunding market later this year.

Darwin was founded in 2008 to help AIM-listed companies raise capital in the wake of the credit crisis and has completed over £200 million of equity-linked transactions.

SOURCE: City Wire