Nutmeg, the original democratiser of wealth management in Europe, has announced plans to democratise its company ownership with a crowdfund later this year. Working in conjunction with Crowdcube, the world’s first and largest equity crowdfunding platform, Nutmeg will give eligible customers the opportunity to invest alongside existing institutional shareholders such as Convoy, Taipei Fubon Bank, Goldman Sachs and Balderton Capital.

Martin Stead, chief executive officer, Nutmeg, said: “Nutmeg was the first digital wealth manager to launch in Europe and now we’re opening up ownership of our business to give eligible customers the opportunity to invest alongside institutional investors, venture capitalists and leading entrepreneurs. This is an incredibly exciting time for Nutmeg, we continue to welcome new customers: both seasoned investors seeking a high-quality wealth management service at a much lower cost; and first-timers, attracted by intuitive technology and a team of investment experts that will manage their portfolios for them. We’re investing in new features for our UK customers, while also taking Nutmeg to new markets around the world, with our first international launch imminent.”

Crowdcube spearheaded record growth for the crowdfunding industry in 2018 with £224m of investment pledged through its site and 198 businesses successfully funded. Recently, there has been an exciting trend of more established, growth-stage fintech pioneers raising between £4m and £20m, as they recognise the financial and customer benefits of crowdfunding with Crowdcube.

Luke Lang, co-founder of Crowdcube, said: "Nutmeg is a business with a deep sense of purpose - they're tackling everyday problems and challenges that will resonate with many of our investors. It remains our mission to help nurture the growth of innovative businesses and we’ve no doubt the campaign will be a real success.”

Nutmeg, which is transitioning from a start-up to a scale-up business, will give eligible Nutmeg customers the chance to invest in Nutmeg. The investment raised from the crowdfund, in addition to the funding secured in its recently concluded Series E fundraise from Convoy and Goldman Sachs, will be used by Nutmeg to fuel innovation and growth in the UK and expansion overseas.

Stead concluded: “We’ve come a long way since we launched in 2012. We’ve grown from a trailblazing start-up to a full-scale digital wealth manager. Now, we want to give eligible Nutmeg customers the chance to share in our success - it’s the least we could do, since they’re the reason we’ve got this far.”