Crowdcube & Emoov – Crime, grime or sublime?

Both crowdfunding and kickstarting have been a real positive for many start up businesses globally, highlighting yet to be signed up talent and enabling investors to join in on many successful roller coaster rides as well as helping start-ups to grow from ideas to national / international companies. There has been a few #PropTech success stories thanks to crowdfunding.

With any investments there are of course risks and not every company that received funding have gone on to that fairy tale result, many have crashed and burned thus taking with them dreams and money! Clearly explained and legally water tight, the investor knows the risks and today will usually have to answer a questionnaire before submitting any money via crowdfunding that ultimately tells them that ‘hey, you are most likely going to lose your money so what the heck are you doing’!

I have raised money via crowdfunding, have invested and lost, built companies and sold them thanks to external investments as well as admitting defeat and closing businesses that had disappointed investors. Bumps and bruises along the way, I kinda get the whole idea, how it works and of course, as explained, know what the risks are – I have also seen the holes in Crowdcube first hand when submitting a pitch, though many hoops to jump through with them to get a live pitch on their platform, there were clear errors and things missed.

So what have Crowdcube, to many the most famous of crowdfunding platforms (though it has lost money every year since launch), and Emoov, who are one of the headline hitting stories in this sector, done to deserve such a title ‘Crime, Grime or Sublime‘?

A recent article by This Is Money website headlines with ‘How online estate agent Emoov didn’t reveal its £15million loss to investors following audacious three-way merger… ‘. The same report by the same author was also on the Mail Online website.

Surely this would be enough to see heads roll, directors held accountable and ultimately a complete reappraisal of the industry with new guidelines set? If the facts within the story are correct – We all know how the media loves to write stories…

Important to the whole story is that since the report came out, Russell Quirk (founder of Properganda PR) who is former Cheif Exec of Emoov, has rubbished the reports and the figures / times quoted. He should know what is what surely and he is very much, so many will say, quite open and clear with what happened at Emoov.

The This is Money article reports that Emoov were losing £3 million a month though documents given to investors did not reveal any loses? Was this hidden by Emoov or was it simply not requested by Crowdcube? What the eye doesn’t see the chef gets away with maybe? Just how much risk should be put on investors and what security can they expect when making investments, is this case in deed fraud (it is said that some investors are still in process of legal action against Emoov). I would very much doubt that such big figures would be hidden.

How big a damage will this do for online estate agency going forwards (TheHouseShop who crowdfunded soon after ended their pitch early following only raising approx a subdued 50%) and what about Crowdcube themselves? Should you trust your money with what seems to be a crowdfunding platform who supposedly do not require firms to give over a fully transparent view of their finances and recent performances?

This all comes about because Emoov failed, if it had been successful then of course it is unlikely any of these failings would have hit any worthy headlines, but now that things have gone sour, the memory of this story will live on for some time to come.

Maybe a storm in a tea cup, maybe a stroke of genius (certainly succeeding in raising full target on Crowdcube is no mean feat)t – it could have opened the door for other online estate agents to gain funding or simply closed that option for the time being…

Christopher Walkey

Founder of Estate Agent Networking. Internationally invited speaker on how to build online target audiences using Social Media. Writes about UK property prices, housing, politics and affordable homes.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

UK house prices growing by 2.5% according to Halifax

Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark: “This slight dip in house prices will likely have been influenced as a direct consequence to the current state of the global economy. There will always be a need for people to move house regardless of international trading relations; however, many aspiring or current homeowners will no doubt be discouraged…
Read More
Breaking News

UK house prices dip slightly in May, but market remains steady

Average property price now £296,648 compared to £297,798 last month Annual rate of growth slows to +2.5% from +3.2% in April Overall house prices have remained stable so far this year Northern Ireland continues to lead annual price growth in the UK Amanda Bryden, Head of Mortgages, Halifax, said: “Average UK house prices fell by…
Read More
Breaking News

Estate Agent Content

Do you think that your estate agency / property business requires content? Is content marketing still a thing in 2025? Are you concerned if anyone will read your words? Is it worth investing in estate agent content? Businesses with blogs generate 67% more leads than those without. As competition for attention online increases it remains…
Read More
Breaking News

The cost of voids rises by £200 for England’s landlords

The latest analysis by Dwelly, one of the UK’s leading lettings acquisition and success planning experts, has found that landlords have been hit with a 26% increase in the cost of void periods in the past year, equivalent to lost income of almost £200. Dwelly analysed average void period data from March 2024 and March…
Read More
Breaking News

Breaking Property News 5/06/25

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X. Demand Rises for Housing and Infrastructure Projects Rising demand for housing, infrastructure and energy projects across Wales has driven continued growth at Lichfields’ Cardiff office, which this year marks 25 years in the capital. The team of 17 planning professionals is one of the largest…
Read More
Breaking News

Construction continues to enjoy a season in the sun

Underlying performance is on the rise during Q.2 2025 Today, Glenigan, one of the construction industry’s leading insight experts, releases the June 2025 edition of its Construction Index. The Index focuses on the three months to the end of May 2025, covering all underlying projects, with a total value of £100m or less (unless otherwise…
Read More