Bray Wanderers invites fans to become Shareholders through a Crowdfunding Campaign

 

 

Spark Crowdfunding (“Spark”), the Central Bank of Ireland authorised crowdfunding platform, has been chosen by Bray Wanderers to help fund the development of the club, raising a minimum of €500,000 from the club’s fans and Spark’s 12,500 registered investors. 

 

The club is currently valued at €2 million, so if the initial target is met it would mean fans would own 20% of the club. However, the offer is open-ended (though time-limited) so should they have the appetite, fans could own up to a third of the club. 

According to Tony Richardson, co-owner and Chairman of the club, “This is a fantastic opportunity for Bray Wanderers fans, past and present, to become part owners of their own club. It may seem a little far-fetched now, but we’d like to emulate the likes of Barcelona, a fans owned club, that is massively successful. Younger people may not remember but Bray has a proud record in Europe, have played European competitions twice (the Seagulls once played Zurich’s Grasshoppers which must be a first!) I dream of bringing back those glory days. 

“I have three decades experience in successful businesses, and I see another great opportunity here, to make Bray great again. We have plans for a 6,000-person stadium, better player and fan facilities, more sports related activities to generate income that we can then plough back again into the club. These are exciting times for Bray Wanderers as well for Bray town that will get more sports facilities.” 

Commenting on the funding programme, Chris Burge, founder and CEO of Spark said, “This is our seventh raise for a sports related investment. It’s a space we know well. Fans want more involvement with their clubs, and what better way of doing that then to have an owners share certificate on the wall. I’ve spoken at length to Tony Richardson, and I recognise the depth of his, and the board’s, ambition. 

“Spark wants to democratise investing by making investing affordable for smaller investors. Our average investment is €6,700, but the minimum investment is just €100 – an ideal present for a fan. We charge investors NO commission at the time an investment is made and of course we encourage investors to make a number of investments, spreading their risk profile.” 

For further information see https://www.sparkcrowdfunding.com/ 

 

• Website - https://www.sparkcrowdfunding.com/ 

• Established in 2018 - authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland 

• 47 campaigns completed 

• 12,500 Registered Investors (Spring 2024) 

• Average campaign size €700k plus 

• Over total 5.5k investments made 

• Investors choose what companies and amount they want to invest in 

• 100% of amount invested by the investor buys shares in the investee company. 

• Early-stage investing is high-risk. Since 2018 only 7 of investee companies struggle or have failed. 

• Spark Crowdfunding investors who invested in Moby – https://mobybikes.com/ -I in 2020 have seen a 780% rise in the valuation of their investment. (Past performance is no guarantee of future performance).