JUST under a year ago, David Rose began a business in a bedroom and now, when he says what he thinks of the UK’s budget, word gets around the world.
The word is Growthwire, a Leominster-based online intelligence operation promoting early stage investments that can currently count on 120 advisors in 14 different countries posting deals as far afield as Australia, China, and North America. Europe too is tapping into what Growthwire can do.
Growthwire flexed its growing global muscle with an attack on Chancellor Alistair Darling’s downturn budget that was taken up by some of the biggest economic commentators in the business.
Growthwire only went live last September, set up by David in what used to be his son’s bedroom. The BBC recently rated the service as nothing less than the Dow Jones for entrepreneurs, while the likes of the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and Australian FinancialReview are among the major business media players signed up to its exclusive content.
At 61, David could already boast a near lifetime’s experience in business ventures and specialist advice, but Growthwire looks like being his legacy.
Essentially, the service makes it easier for fundseekers and investors worldwide to make contact with each other and initiate their own investment deals, avoiding the delays and costs usually associated with this kind of direct early-stage investment.
“I started building the system to help with capital raising for my own clients, but it took on its own head of steam, “ said David.
To David, and contrary to received wisdom, the primary motivation for early stage investors is still capital gain and benefit to existing business interests, as opposed to locality.
“The key has been to provide everything that earlystage investors demand in that their identity is kept secure and, most importantly, the people they respond to are advisors like myself in order to ensure a professional interface to the deals.
“It is our job to ensure that our clients are properly prepared for due diligence and have a well-prepared business plan, which is sent only when investors respond to (an) executive summary they receive from Growthwire,” said David.
Flexible enough to fit around most of world’s financial systems, Growthwire – delivering capital raising deals of between £50,000 and £5 million – soon got the measure of the Asia-Pacific markets, to which it can tailor bespoke opportunities through a regional director based in Brisbane.
But an increasing number of UK investors like the look of Growthwire too, reflected in rising registrations from entrepreneurs who are now CEOs and MDs of their own established companies.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here