Banking platform BABB halves its valuation, midway through crowdfund

Decentralised banking platform BABB has halved its valuation midway through a crowdfunding round.

The company launched a crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube just over two weeks ago, with a valuation of £100m.

In a company blog post it said, “Since we launched, some concerns have been expressed regarding the valuation of the company.

We valued the company at £100 million, and we have discussed this figure (and the workings out behind it) at length. We believe that the initial valuation remains fair and objective built on conservative financial projections.”

However, the company has decided to lower the valuation of the company to £50m. Its original valuation was accepted by its existing investors, but there was concern from others, and so BABB took the decision to lower its valuation to offer those an attractive investment opportunity.

This adjustment means there is now 2.91 per cent of its equity available during the crowdsale, an increase from 1.48 per cent. The campaign is looking to raise £1.5m and at the time of writing, has raised £1m from 1,036 backers.

Another reason for the sudden change in valuation was to help with its goal of getting a banking license. The regulatory business plan was issued to the UK regulators last week and the company is looking to satisfy the minimum capital requirements as soon as possible.

BABB has also received a lot of attention from private investors, and so it wishes to close the crowdsale soon, so it can focus on chasing these opportunities.

London-headquartered BAAB is developing a decentralised banking platform which offers a bank account, payment card, and access to a P2P network. The mobile app will supply a bank account with face and voice recognition security, and tools for domestic and international transactions.

BABB hopes to connect banking to those that are underserved or excluded from traditional forms. The payments card, Black Card, connects directly with the mobile app through a QR code or NFC tag, and can be used at supported stores or online shopping.

The company has also decided to launch a new BAX (the company’s digital token) bonus for investors. Backers now receive a bonus 20 BAX for every £1 pledged. Earlier in the year, the company closed its token sale on its $20m goal.

Copyright © 2018 FinTech Global

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