Rub-A-Dub-Dub 50 Folks Get a New Job Thanks To Linked Finance

More than 50 jobs have been created by Ireland’s first Crowd Funding venture – Linked Finance.

Thanks to the beauty of Crowd Funding, a butcher, a baker and a candlestick maker have turned the stuff of fairy tales into reality by turning to people power to finance their business ventures.

Crowd Funding is a new initiative to Ireland where businesses can avoid the banking system by applying to have their loans fully funded by members of the public for a fair return. Butcher, John Sheridan, bakers Lolly and Cooks and candlestick maker Larry Kinsella came together today to spread the word about the benefits of crowd funding to small businesses at the site once earmarked for toxic lender, Anglo Irish Bank’s headquarters in Dublin’s Docklands.

The three entrepreneurs are among hundreds of small business owners who have turned to people power to successfully expand their businesses and grow jobs in a difficult climate.

Linked Finance, which opened for business last March, is creating new lifelines for small businesses and startups pioneering job creation.

As the availability of bank loans and other traditional sources has become increasingly scarce in recent years, entrepreneurs have been searching for new ways to finance their ventures.

With this in mind Peter O’Mahony set up Linked Finance with the support of prominent businessmen Kingsley Aikins, Bobby Kerr and Feargal Quinn.

Today, the company has announced that 50 new posts have been created in the past five months as a direct result of businesses successfully accessing the credit they needed to expand.

Mr O’Mahony said: “It is so encouraging to see the number of jobs which have been created as a direct result of this funding to date. We hope to fund up to 200 loans by year end, which will mean many more. It is the first time that accessing finance has been this fast, fair and affordable, because it is not about, ‘how do I get access to the decision makers in that bank?’ or ‘who do I know in that venture capital outfit?’ This is all about proving your worth to your customers and fans, getting them to validate your idea and fund it.”

“There’s €86bn in savings accounts getting a return of less than 1pc in Ireland at the moment, but most people are afraid to do anything with their money. With crowd funding, you can pledge €100 or €1,000 at, say, an interest rate of 8pc, and if your bid is successful then that’s the rate you get,” he added.

Founder of Moth to a Flame, candlemaker Larry Kinsella from Co Kilkenny said: “I decided to go down the Crowd Funding route with Linked Finance because of all it has to offer.  It is much more of a personable experience than you would have with the banks. We are not just a number, we are a company with a heartbeat and through crowd funding we feel we are being understood.”

Butcher John Sheridan of John’s Meats based in Monkstown, Co Dublin said: “Linked Finance made sense to us as you get an opportunity to reach out to your customers and people feel a sense of ownership. It’s a fantastic concept. I would recommend it to any business owner.”

Peter concluded: “The aim of Linked Finance is not only to provide investment, but to build strong business relationships, as a company’s lenders become new customers, ambassadors and salespeople for the business. ”

Businesses based in 16 counties have now signed up to have their loans funded through Linked Finance over the last seven months.

There are more than 3,340 registered lenders on the Linked Finance website and over €720,000 has been bid on loans at LinkedFinance.com so far.

Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton said the crowd funding model is becoming an even more popular alternative financial mechanism for businesses and promoters across the globe to access finance in difficult financial markets. He said it appeared to be affording real opportunities in alternative finance for SMEs.  “It is seen by many sponsors as a means of ‘democratising’ access to funds and supply of capital and moving the model away from venture capitalists and angel investors,” he said.