WiSeed is a French equity-based crowdfunding site that funds innovative startups. The platform, which launched in 2009, allows users to invest as little as €100 ($130) in return for a company’s shares.
At the end of last year, WiSeed announced that the crowdfunding raise for a company called Antabio resulted in a profitable exit for the crowd investors. We spoke with WiSeed co-founders Thierry Merquiol and Nicolas Seres to find out more about the funding round and about the regulatory landscape in France.
Antabio is a French drug discovery company that relies on fundraising to keep its operations going, as it lacks a “fee for service” arm. In 2010, the company’s leadership team decided to raise a seed funding round to the tune of €300,000 ($390,000). Antabio tried raising funds from angels and VCs, but they deemed the startup to be too risky. Seeing few other options, Antabio's founders decided to try out crowdfunding.
To read the original article: The Story of One Profitable Crowdfunding Exit
