Launching soon, RAISED is an equity crowdfunding platform for SMEs looking to raise between £30k and £500k.
We sat down with the company’s founder, Jason Curran, to ask him why he decided to launch RAISED, how he plans to fund it and what he’ll do if it’s not a success…
Q: What was the last project you worked on before RAISED?
A: For the past seven years, I’ve been a firm partner helping run a financial services business in central London, which focused primarily on SMEs.
Q: What key skills do you have to make a success of this new business?
A: Throughout my career, I’ve worked closely with numerous start-ups to help them secure funding. I’ve played a key role in their financial and process administration, planning, budgeting, and market strategy.
Q: What does success for RAISED look like?
A: Success would be seeing a number of SMEs flourish into medium and large businesses. I want RAISED to play a fundamental role in bringing new and exciting products and services to the world, which may not have been possible without first showcasing them to our investment community.
Q: What will you do if RAISED is unsuccessful?
A: Unsuccessful? Depends on what, in your opinion, you see as unsuccessful. I see unsuccessful as the point the business can’t sustain the quality of service promised or expected. If this ever was to happen to RAISED, I will do what all good businesses do, step back, revise and learn to adapt the current offering into something that is more successful.
Q: What are your funding plans?
A: Initially, we will raise capital through various business angels, if the business shows dramatic growth then the plan is to raise further funding via our own RAISED platform.
Q: Where did the idea for your business come from?
A: Like I previously mentioned, I’ve spent years working closely with SMEs and I’ve seen first-hand how frustrating it can be to have amazing ideas but no idea on how to operate or find capital. Taking the leap to run your own business is difficult, I want to try and bridge the gap as much as possible.
Q: What’s your proudest professional accomplishment to date?
A: I have a few that stand out; learning from the ground up how US and Asian financial industry reporting works. And also having a hand in raising one of the biggest raises on Kickstarter in 2015.
Q: What’s your biggest regret?
A: Slipping into a comfortable routine at work and not pushing myself to learn/experience more.
Q: What’s the greatest risk to RAISED?
A: For us to not stop and think about what we’re doing. ‘Can this be done better? Could this be automated somehow?” I hate seeing routine processes, staying the same for long periods of time. Crowdfunding has only been around in the mainstream since the turn of the early 2000s and is still well into its infancy. The business needs to be constantly adapting/growing in new directions.
Q: Do you have an exit strategy?
A: No, I plan to be in the business long-term. I truly love what I do.
