The search for the truth goes on and we didnt find it here.

Seedrs facilitated Hokkei in raising around £250k in 2015.
Seedrs facilitated Hokkei in raising around £319k in 2015. 

Take your pick. 

If you havent read the post on Hokkei below - this one wont make any sense. It may not make any sense anyway. 

Having written the post below we were contacted by the Seedrs PR department. Every equity crowdfunding platform seems to need a PR department.

They asked us to correct an error in the post, which said that the platform had not raised £319k but had, despite its claims, only raised £250k. We posed the Q, where did the extra money come from? Seedrs explained -

'' Consistent with Seedrs longstanding policy, we allow investors to hold shares directly rather than through the nominee if the company consents. In these cases the nominee managed amount will not represent the full amount invested in the business through the platform.''

We asked them a very simple question. Did you get paid commission on the difference between £319k and £250k. We got a very simple one word answer  - NO. No explanation, just NO.

As it turns out, one investor put in the difference but not via the platform. According to Seedrs PR, this individual used the site to assess the investment opportunity and then invested off platform with Seedrs agreement. We have no reason to think this isnt true. But the statement above is clear - 'invested in the business through the platform'. This did not happen. That is a fact. So the amount invested through the platform was as a we stated - around £250k.

This matters because the equity crowdfunding platforms, or the two retail facing ones, use these figures on completed raises to boost their image. If it could be shown that these figures included sums raised off the platform - as was the case with Crowdcube and £800k of the £1m raise for Waterbabies the Musical - then the FCA might want to take a look. Only a peek mind.

So just how long is a piece of string. Well the answer seems to be just as long as you would like it to be. If anyone else wants to know how long it is, we can tell them but you will just have to take our word for  - it's our piece of string and we make up the rules. 

All in all not very helpful and not what we were expecting. Our chat with Seedrs PR ended with them accusing me of being overly combative. Moi? Must be some misunderstanding. It's what happens when the truth becomes a little blurred.

Hokkei liquidation shows fundamental flaws in system

 

Hokkei funded via Seedrs in the late Summer of 2015. By December 2015, the company had ceased trading and was in the hands of the administrators.

We wrote about them here. The final liquidation is now in place. However the amount raised by Seedrs  - claimed on their website as £319,580 appears in the Liquidators report as only £258,128. That's one hell of a commission Seedrs are taking out or they have been exaggerating their success numbers.

As usual the report can find nothing odd with a small one unit takeaway operation (already operating) burning up over £250k in cash in less than 6 months and ending up with overall debts of over £400k; a large chunk of this owed to trade creditors

Surely someone is taking the pea? 

In a final nose thumbing gesture, the ex director of Hokkei told the press at the start 2016 that he might well get the business back up and running again. That is precisely why the Insolvency Service takes away people's rights to be a company director. If we are going to make it easier for people to raise money then we do need to tighten up on the ability of the authorities to come down on those who abuse the system.

He is now back in  business - only cooking hoepfully!

It would also be good to know what happened to the missing £60k of investment from Seedrs?

Just had this from a SH - a note sent round to Hokkei investors from Seedrs. Clearly shows that their figure of £319k is fictional. Who can you trust??

Seedrs failure Hokkei indebted to £466,000 in just a few months

Hokkei raised £320k on the ECF platform Seedrs last summer.

As far as we know the Chinese takeaway brand that was to change the way we looked at Chinese takeaways, never opened. It went into liquidation in the New Year.

The liquidators report is still warm and shows the company has been closed owing £466k to a mix of the usual suspects -  HSBC, creditors and shareholders. The company had no assets apart from cash at bank of £15k.

So you have to ask where did all the money go?

£320k from equity investors and another £60k from HSBC has been swallowed up with absolutely nothing to show for it apart from further debts. That comes to one hell of lot sampling of Chinese foods in 6 months - more than £2k per day, seven days a week. Talk about wonton, it would mean several extra tonne.

Surely if money was spent on the first unit fit out, some of this must be recoupable against the fixtures and fittings?

These guys should be banned from ever using this type of funding again.

Seedrs who are on the whole one of the better platforms, should be issuing reasons for the almost instant failure of this venture. If nothing else, we need to learn some lessons from it.

Seedrs' funded Hokkei calls it a day after just 6 months

We think this may be a world record for the fastest ECf exit.

Hokkei funded on the ECf platform Seedrs in June 2015. They raised  £320k at a valuation of £1.1m for a new Chinese Take away concept that '...flips the traditional Chinese takeaway on its head' according to their pitch. Its first unit was due to open in Cardiff on January 2.

The business has just closed - having never really opened and the liquidation process is now in motion. Its too early to know what went wrong but we suspect they dropped the idea on its head when flipping it.

£100k of the Seedrs investment came from Go Compare founder Hayley Parsons. Seems we can all get it very wrong.

Thanks go to our friend for the tip off!