Crowdfunding platform Seedrs has launched the “first ever” crowdfunding fund, which gives investors the opportunity to spread their risk with a single investment across ten emerging web startups.

The companies will be part of the incubator WebStart Bristol, receiving free mentorship, office space and other support along with a net cash investment of up to £10,000 each.

The fund hopes to attract a total of £150,000, for which investors will receive a combined ten per cent of equity in each of the the ten companies.

Jeff Lynn, chief executive of Seedrs, said: “We set out to be a new kind of financial services firm that makes investing in startups simple and rewarding.

“Setting up this fund complements that by making it much easier for people to diversify their investments and show their support for the thriving tech ecosystem that has emerged in Bristol over the last several years.”

The companies will be selected by WebStart Bristol, meaning the investors won’t know which companies will get their investment when they put the money up. In this sense the fund is akin to more traditional investments, where fund managers select a diverse crop of investments to spread the risk.

Mike Jackson, Webstart Bristol founder, said: “Investing in any startup is a bit of a lottery – only a few succeed but out of ten the odds are that at least one will be successful, and with the high multiples in the internet sector, you might only need one.

“Most people wouldn’t have spotted any of the current super successful app and web service companies so we will be judging the entrepreneurs, not the idea. If they have the drive, skills and judgement to see it through, we’ll go for it.”

At the time of publishing, WebStart Bristol had already attracted almost 50 per cent of the £150,000 investment target, after launching on Sunday evening.

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