Member Article

Investment goal for The Soccer Factory

Growthfunders, the North of England’s first online equity crowdfunding platform, is helping the team behind an indoor soccer-led mixed leisure facility to raise investment funds.

The Soccer Factory is aiming to raise £500k to develop top class facilities in currently under-served areas. A first site, to include seven 3G astroturf courts on Aycliffe Business Park, County Durham, is already secured, with planning permission granted.

The Aycliffe facility will also have a health and fitness suite, two multi-purpose studios, a café/bar, sports injury clinic and conferencing facilities.

The Soccer Factory was founded by Dan Lewis who, for ten years, was Deputy Director of Sport at Durham University, a role which included management of sports facilities across 15 locations. Dan and his team are advised by David Pope, who spent 12 years with Brewin Dolphin’s corporate broking department, during which time he specialised in leisure and media and worked closely with another successful chain of football facilities.

The investment being sought will add to £20k of personal funds which have been injected.

Growthfunders has been launched to match ambitious entrepreneurs with great business ideas to a range of investors to create and grow exciting businesses. The site allows entrepreneurs leading businesses with high growth potential to garner support and raise capital online from a wide range of investors, including angel networks and early stage venture capitalists (VCs).

Growthfunders also opens up access to this exciting asset class to a wider audience of suitably-qualified online angels, or the eponymous “crowd”, who can experience investing alongside more experienced investors.

Craig Peterson, Director of Growth Capital Ventures, the firm behind GrowthFunders, said: “The Soccer Factory team are making great progress towards launching their first facility and their listing on GrowthFunders is an opportunity for them to open their business up to a wide range of investors.

“Crowdfunding is a great way to get behind businesses with growth potential at an early stage and to drive growth and jobs in the economy.”

Co-director, Norman Peterson added: “We have interest from an Institutional Investor, who is considering providing a significant level of match funding, which would certainly help move the deal forward. This is exactly what the GrowthFunders platform is designed for – to faciltate the syndication of early stage investment opportunities between online angel investors, angel networks and institutional investors.

“We want to help entrepreneurs attract capital to grow from a range of investors and create the next wave of Great British Businesses.”

Dan Lewis said: “We turned to GrowthFunders for three intricately linked reasons. The first is because crowdfunding opens us up to a much broader cross section of investors. Second, we are aiming to open a range of facilities for use by the general public, so why not give them a chance to invest in The Soccer Factory, which will not only make them stronger advocates for the business, but also give them a chance to get something back as we grow.

“And finally, because of the support that the GrowthFunders team have provided to help me get The Soccer Factory ready to attract investment to grow. The support and introductions I’ve received have been invaluable.”

Launched by North East and Yorkshire-based entrepreneurs, Craig and Norman Peterson, GrowthFunders has a wealth of experience behind it.

Both Craig and Norman have supported entrepreneurs, helping to raise capital, acting as mentors and providing strategic advice to a range of high growth businesses. The co-founders have recently completed qualifications with the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments as part of their continuous professional development.

For more information, or to register, visit www.growthfunders.com.

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This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Recognition PR Business Team .