Blur Group IPO Raises £4m for Crowd Platform

Crowdsourcing specialist Blur Group has floated on the AIM stock exchange, and raised c.£4m in the process. The funds will be used to develop technology, increase the sales team, and provide support services and marketing.

London and Dallas-based Blur Group owns and operates online exchanges through which businesses in any country can buy, sell and pay for business services such as marketing, advertising and technology. It also offers access to thousands of 'innovation experts' - entrepreneurs, early-stage businesses, and young innovators - who are available on a crowdsourcing basis to provide feedback and input on innovation projects.

Businesses brief projects and then service providers pitch, with the entire process running online, right through to project delivery and payment. Blur Group now has more than 20,000 experts, agencies and service provider firms across 130 countries on six crowd platforms. All are reviewed and approved by the Group's Exchange Support executives before joining.

CEO and founder Philip Letts comments: 'Since 2007 when we started to build our first expert crowd, we have gone from 50 expert service providers to over 20,000. Our ambition has always been to build a UK global technology success story and the IPO is a key part in helping us to achieve that goal, and to demonstrate that there is a UK market for technology IPOs.'

Earlier this year, Blur Group raised £2m through a group of about 20 business names and angel investors which includes ITV Chairman Archie Norman.

Web site: www.blurgroup.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.