Don't invest unless you're prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong.
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Risk Summary

Estimated reading time: 2 min

Due to the potential for losses, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) considers this investment to be high risk.

What are the key risks?

  • You could lose all the money you invest
  • Most investments are shares in start-up businesses or bonds issued by them. Investors in these shares or bonds often lose 100% of the money they invested, as most start-up businesses fail.
  • Checks on the businesses you are investing in, such as how well they are expected to perform, may not have been carried out by the platform you are investing through. You should do your own research before investing.

You won't get your money back quickly

  • Even if the business you invest in is successful, it will likely take several years to get your money back.
  • The most likely way to get your money back is if the business is bought by another business or lists its shares on an exchange such as the London Stock Exchange. These events are not common.
  • Start-up businesses very rarely pay you back through dividends. You should not expect to get your money back this way.
  • Some platforms may give you the opportunity to sell your investment early through a 'secondary market' or 'bulletin board', but there is no guarantee you will find a buyer at the price you are willing to sell.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket

  • Putting all your money into a single business or type of investment for example, is risky. Spreading your money across different investments makes you less dependent on any one to do well. A good rule of thumb is not to invest more than 10% of your money in high-risk investments. Learn more here.

The value of your investment can be reduced

  • If your investment is shares, the percentage of the business that you own will decrease if the business issues more shares. This could mean that the value of your investment reduces, depending on how much the business grows. Most start-up businesses issue multiple rounds of shares.
  • These new shares could have additional rights that your shares don't have, such as the right to receive a fixed dividend, which could further reduce your chances of getting a return on your investment.

You are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong

  • Protection from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), in relation to claims against failed regulated firms, does not cover poor investment performance. Try the FSCS investment protection checker.
  • Protection from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) does not cover poor investment performance. If you have a complaint against an FCA-regulated platform, FOS may be able to consider it. Learn more about FOS protection here.

If you are interested in learning more about how to protect yourself, visit the FCA's website here.

For further information about investment-based crowdfunding, visit the crowdfunding section of the FCA's website here.
Portfolio News
Admin
· 1 min read
· Updated on

Introducing Quva – Transforming the way Investment Managers Originate, Transact and Monitor Investments

Our involvement in the alternative investment sector over the last decade has allowed us to develop a detailed understanding of the end to end investment management process. For the most part, the sector has been slow to embrace digital innovation and transformation.

Many alternative investment managers currently use a combination of manual processes, spreadsheets and standalone software to manage investments from deal origination to portfolio monitoring. Whilst processes are robust, they are time consuming and inefficient; valuable time is spent on back office processes that don’t make best use of talent and time.

I’m therefore delighted to introduce Quva, a software-as-a service solution for alternative investment managers created, incubated and launched by G-Labs, the venture builder division of Growth Capital Ventures.

Quva has one clear focus – to transform the way Alternative Investment Managers originate, transact and monitor their investment portfolio.

With Quva, Alternative Investment Managers – including Angel Networks, Venture Capital Fund Managers and Private Equity Fund Managers – are provided with a highly customisable and highly configurable end-to-end solution. The technology is scaled, adjusted and defined by individual requirements.

It is clear alternative investment drives the UK economy by powering high growth businesses, and the managers behind such investment need to be provided with the opportunity to originate better quality deals, provide capital faster and make better decisions to support portfolio companies. They need to create value in the most effective way – what they don’t need is inefficient systems that hinder value creation.

Developed by investment professionals for investment professionals, Quva combines a clear understanding of the investment origination, transaction and monitoring process with our development team’s vast experience of creating bespoke software solutions. The result is a business-critical solution that enables an unparalleled and transparent view of the entire investment process from deal origination to realisation and exit.

Moving into the launch phase, Quva is to become a GCV business division in its own right, with plans afoot to expand the team over the coming months with a number of key hires. Over the next three years, Quva aims to build on the current team and create over 30 full time roles for software developers, UX/UI designers, sales, marketing and customer success roles.

Joining the expanding GCV portfolio of disruptive high growth companies – who together have created over 500 jobs and have a market capitalisation of over £500 million – Quva is set to transform the end-to-end Alternative Investment Management process and help Investment Managers support economic growth and drive portfolio value creation.

 
Driving Growth.
Creating Value.
Delivering Impact.

Backed by

Growth Capital Ventures (GCV) is backed by funds managed by Maven Capital Partners, one of the UK’s leading private equity and alternative asset managers.