What is crowdfunding?

Crowdfunding is an easy way to become a shareholder of HOWL. As a shareholder, you’ll have a piece of the company and have the potential to benefit if we grow financially. When investing, your capital is also at risk.

What is equity crowdfunding?

A type of crowdfunding that enables multiple investors to buy shares in a company, using a crowdfunding platform like Republic.

What is a share?

An ownership interest in a company that entitles the shareholder to certain rights, for example, a share of profits or dividend payments from the company if it grows financially. Shares are also referred to as “stock”.

What is an ordinary share?

Shares that represent normal equity ownership in a company. Ordinary shares generally entitle the owner to vote at shareholder meetings, receive dividends, and receive distributions on the winding up of a company but do not carry preferential treatment. The nominee structure means that Republic will generally exercise these rights on your behalf; you can find out more here.

Businesses like those funded on platforms rarely pay dividends. This means that if you invest in a business through the platform, even if it is successful, you are unlikely to see any return of capital or profit until you are able to sell your shares. Even for a successful business, this is unlikely to occur for a number of years from the time you make your investment.

What is Republic?

Republic is the crowdfunding platform which will enable you to invest in HOWL. Republic, formerly Seedrs, has funded +2,000 deals to date. The top companies they have funded include Revolut, Allplants, Cheeky Panda, Manilife, Oddbox, Mindful Chef, and TransferGo.

Who can invest?

To invest through Republic, you must be over 18 years old, legally entitled to invest, and a resident of the UK, Europe or another country supported by the platform.

How do I become a shareholder?

You can become a shareholder of HOWL by opening an account with Republic and placing your investment through them. Your investment will be administered and held through your registered Republic account.

What is early access or pre-registration?

First, we will offer everyone the opportunity to register their interest in investing in HOWL. Everyone who pre-registers will be given the first opportunity to invest. They will receive an exclusive email inviting them to invest when the early access funding round opens. This will be open for a short period of time before the funding round is opened up to everyone else to invest.

Republic will guide you through the whole process, from pre-registering your interest to making an investment and beyond. They have a helpful guide here about their authorisation process, how to browse campaigns, how to invest, how to make a payment and how to cancel an investment.

How do I sign up with Republic?

It's simple and free for anyone in the UK or EU to sign up. Once your investor profile is complete, you'll be able to access our campaign, ask us questions, request further information and invest. When creating your Republic account, please make sure you create it in your own name, as the person investing. They cannot accept joint investments or investments made on behalf of someone else.

In order to make investments, you need to successfully complete the Republic Investment Authorisation Questionnaire or self-certify as a “high net worth individual” or a “sophisticated investor” if you reside in the UK or Europe. If you reside in an accepted jurisdiction outside of the UK and Europe, you will need to self-certify as an accredited investor in your local jurisdiction. This is intended to show us that you have the judgement and understanding to appreciate the risks of investing in private companies.

How do I pay for my investment?

Once you’ve made an investment, you’ll need to pay for it. If you are able to pay with a debit/credit card, you can do so as part of the investment confirmation process. If you’re unable to pay by debit/credit card, you will need to make a deposit into your Republic account and then allocate the investment amount to the investee campaign. You must deposit and pay for the investment before the campaign closes, or your investment will be cancelled, and you will not receive shares in the business.

Find out more about becoming an investor here.

How much can I invest?

You can invest from as little as £10 up to the full amount that HOWL is seeking – and note whether you’d like the investment to be public or anonymous. You will then be presented with an Investment Agreement, which is a standardised agreement between you and Republic with respect to your investment. If you’re happy with it, click to accept, and that’s it – you’ve made an investment!

What is overfunding?

Businesses must reach their targets on Republic within 30 days, and if they do not, all investors receive their money back. However, if a business hits its target before the 30-day period is over, it can accept additional investment – in exchange for additional equity – if it so chooses. This is called overfunding, and investors who invest during the overfunding period do so on the exact same terms as other investors. The one difference in overfunding is that businesses do not have to accept any or all of the funds they raise in their overfunding period. Republic will let you know if we have chosen not to accept your overfunding investment via email, and Republic will refund your payment to your Investment Account.

Can I cancel my investment or change my mind?

You can cancel an investment at any time before a campaign closes from within your Republic Investment Account. You have a minimum of 7 days to cancel your investment. By cancelling, funds already paid will be returned to your Republic account to be paid into other investments, if you like.If you have funds in your Republic account that are not currently committed to an investment, you may withdraw them at any time from your Investment Account. This can take up to 48 hours and must be returned to the account from which they originated.

What happens when the campaign ends?

Once our campaign closes, and the Republic team has successfully completed legal due diligence and investment documentation, Republic will transfer the funds to the company in exchange for shares. Republic will then send you an electronic share certificate, confirming that you are officially an investor in the business, and will include a link to our post-investment portal where you can keep in touch with us and our progress.

When can I sell my shares?

The main way you can make money from your investment is by selling your shares for more than you paid for them. There are a couple of ways that this might occur: if the company grows to the point where it floats on a stock exchange, is bought by another company or conducts a share buyback, you are likely to be able to sell your shares – potentially at a profit – at that stage.

You may also be able to sell your shares on Republic Secondary Market, whereby investors can buy and sell shares from each other online. Bear in mind that the ability to buy and sell shares will depend on demand, meaning that you may not be able to sell them immediately.