The UK's first structured revenue-share marketplace
I built four businesses from the ground up. I know what it feels like to have a strong operation, proven revenue and real growth potential — and still get turned away by a bank because you don't fit their template. The money goes to businesses that don't need it. The businesses that do need it get expensive short-term debt or nothing at all.
At the same time I watched ordinary people earn 3% on their savings while private growth opportunities went exclusively to the wealthy and the well-connected. Two broken problems. One platform to fix both.
Ventra works for both sides of the marketplace simultaneously
Every platform claims to be different. Here is the feature-by-feature proof.
| Feature | Ventra | Funding Circle | Seedrs / Crowdcube | Folk2Folk | Assetz Capital |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Protection | |||||
| Staged capital release — only 10% at Stage 1 | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Back-loaded release — more protected the further you go | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Protected escrow on unreleased capital | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Dedicated Reserve Pool funded by platform fees | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Mandatory personal guarantees on all raises | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | — |
| Manual underwriting on every raise | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Live repayment milestone monitoring | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Liquidity | |||||
| Secondary marketplace for repayment rights | ✓ | ✗ | — | ✗ | ✗ |
| In-platform negotiation and counter-offer | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Exchange open to third-party originators | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Community | |||||
| Community backing layer — customers back the business | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| WhatsApp community group per raise | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| In-app raise community chat | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Public raise Q&A — members ask, business answers | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Live pitch events in UK cities | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Founder podcast | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Daily finance and business blog | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Transparency | |||||
| Live Reserve Pool balance visible to all members | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Per-raise escrow balance shown | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Live repayment timeline per raise | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Capital recovered vs profit split shown | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| For Businesses | |||||
| Non-dilutive — keep 100% of your equity | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Revenue-share repayment tied to actual revenue | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Community activation tools | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Early repayment to unlock capital faster | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Content creation and marketing services | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Podcast episode to tell your story | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Franchise network programme | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Platform co-investment validation | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Member Tools | |||||
| Portfolio diversification dashboard | ✓ | ✗ | — | ✗ | ✗ |
| Structured education platform | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Accredited Backer certification | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| AI-powered raise matching | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Trust score and Verified Backer status | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Raise watchlist | ✓ | ✗ | — | ✗ | ✗ |
Ventra never releases 100% of a business's capital upfront. Stage 1 releases just 10%. The remainder sits in protected escrow until milestones are met. The Reserve Pool — funded by 66% of every platform fee — adds another layer on top. Personal guarantees add a third. This is not risk elimination. It is risk architecture.
Ventra Exchange lets members sell remaining repayment rights to other members before a raise completes. Name your price, negotiate if needed, exit when you want. £87,300 traded on the Exchange to date. Liquidity in a market that has never had it.
Every raise has a community behind it. Ask the business questions publicly. Join their WhatsApp group. Meet them at Ventra Live pitch events. Listen to their story on Ventra Voices. When businesses activate their existing customers as backers the funding speed accelerates dramatically. Community is the distribution model.
"I backed Iron & Oak Gym because I already went there three times a week. Getting a financial return on a business I believed in anyway felt like a no-brainer."
"We raised £150,000 without giving away a single share. Our members are our community — they want us to succeed because they're backing us to succeed."
"The staged release structure gave me confidence from day one. Knowing that £135,000 was still in escrow when I backed made the decision easy."
Illustrative testimonials — representative of member and business experience
Ventra is not a single product — it is a compounding ecosystem
Join the founding community before we launch.
Ventra is seeking FCA authorisation. This is a pre-launch demo. Capital is at risk. Nothing on this page constitutes financial advice.