Newquay-based Crowdfunder is set to immediately create 20 new jobs in Cornwall after a successful equity fundraise of £650,000.

Crowdfunder, now valued at £5m, launched it’s equity fundraise on Wednesday morning and were "blown away" when £230k was pledged within the first 15 mins – finishing up with a total of £650,000 invested.

In its short life, Crowdfunder, based in Newquay, has gone from a start-up, to becoming the number one rewards-based site in the UK.

Crowdfunder raises money directly from the public for businesses, community projects, charities, sports and the arts. As well as finding valuable and needed funding in an increasingly difficult economic environment, the Crowdfunder model provides much needed validation and public profiling for people wishing to get their projects funded and launched.

Phil Geraghty, MD of Crowdfunder, said: “This growth will allow Crowdfunder to work with more Local Authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP’s), universities and large corporate businesses to further stimulate large-scale economic activity across the UK.

“The £650,000 raised will enable us to create twenty new immediate jobs in Cornwall with the potential for hundreds more in the future.

“We are immediately looking to fill technical development, business development and marketing roles alongside recruiting a wider team of crowdfund coaches as we take the next exciting steps in the growth of our business.”

Rob Love, Chairman of Crowdfunder added: “With Crowdfunder we believe Cornwall has the opportunity to be the home to a world class business and we are becoming one the UK’s fastest growing companies.

“On a local level, here in Cornwall, we provide direct access for Cornish enterprises to develop their businesses and projects ahead of the pack. We also clearly demonstrate that Cornwall can support leading digital and creative industry businesses and directly benefit from the intellectual property that we are developing and sharing here in the South West.”

Examples of crowdfunding include the Cornish Language Radio Project who raised over £5000 to develop a weekly Cornish-speaking podcast and The Huers Hut Project, which was a campaign to save the famous Huers Hut in Newquay, which generated celebrity support from TV presenter, Phillip Schofield. The Lost Gardens of Heligan are currently fundraising for a field of poppies to commemorate World War 1.