myBarrister.co.uk, the leading supplier of online access to the Bar, has exceeded its target of raising more than £150,000 through crowdfunding – boasting a final investment of 188,770.
myBarrister is the first barrister service to use crowdfunding to raise funds, marking a milestone in the legal industry.
myBarrister used the online crowd-funding platform Crowdcube to raise the £188,770 for a 3.75 per cent equity stake in the company. The fund raising was launched on 14 March 2014. The largest investment was £50,000 with 58 individual investors putting money into the venture.
The funds will be used specifically to expand the business, by growing the number of registered barristers and funding an increased marketing spend to deliver more potential clients direct to these barristers. The target is to have 1,000 barristers signed up to myBarrister in the next 12 months.
myBarrister was launched in June 2013 to take advantage of regulatory changes that allow barristers to accept instructions directly from businesses and individuals, rather than exclusively through a solicitor. More than 100 barristers have already signed up to myBarrister, including a number of leading QCs.
The myBarrister team consists of Ronald DeKoven as CEO (senior New York lawyer, English barrister, entrepreneur in the technology space), Bruce Webster, Director of Branding and Marketing, and Plamena Metodieva, Director of Operations. mybarrister has also partnered with Hewetson Shah, The Bar Council’s exclusive Service Partner for Legal Search & Recruitment, to further grow the established direct-access platform.
Ronald DeKoven, CEO of myBarrister, commenting on the funding milestone, said: “The support provided by the investors on Crowdcube has been overwhelming. To exceed our target is fantastic news and shows that investors believe in the myBarrister business model as much as we do.
