Squareknot launched it's Crowdfunding platform in style on Monday 9th September at the Glasgow Science Centre.

2. For an evening, crowdfunding took
over the Glasgow Science Centre, with
Squareknot taking centre stage
Attendees arrived from 6pm, and
were taken through registration,
before moving onto the opening
networking portion of the evening
There was a strict door policy –
coloured stickers were forced upon all
attendees. Luckily we offered
everyone a choice:
Red – Investors
Blue – Businesses seeking
funding
Green - Business Advisors/Other

3. The unique atmosphere of a networking
event surrounded by marvels of science
and technology proved fitting for the
launch of a flagship crowdfunding platform
After registering for the chance to win the
£500 investment prize up for grabs, guests
were taken into amongst the exhibits for
the networking potion of the evening

4. With almost 200 guests checked in by 7pm,
we were excited to see such a buzz around
the launch – although we’re sure the
canapés played their part!
Over the course of the first hour guests
were treated to complimentary wine and
canapés, while final preparations were well
underway elsewhere for the evening’s
main event

5. The guests had the chance to mingle with
Investors, Start-ups, and importantly, the
Squareknot management team
Guests were welcomed from various sectors,
from banking and finance, to those in
entrepreneurial and creative capacities
Representatives from all the launch pitches
were present at the event and took
advantage of the opportunity to spread the
word about their exciting business
propositions.

6. Even the team at Squareknot were
surprised by the tremendous uptake for
tickets, with extra seats being arranged in
the final few minutes to accommodate the
200 plus strong crowd
As we neared 7:30, the last few remaining
guests arrived
Everyone was invited downstairs into the
main hall, where the anticipation
continued to grow

7. It was time for all our hard work and
planning over the previous months to pay
off, and we turned to Louise White, our
host for the evening to start things off.
By 7:30 the mics were on, the lights were
dimmed, and the stage was set for the
launch of Squareknot.

8. Louise spoke of the challenges facing Scotland,
the nature of the crowdfunding landscape, and
why the launch event would mark the beginning
of a new era for funding in Scotland
She next invited the audience to watch a short
video outlining what Squareknot is all about
Louise White, of the BBC, hosted the evening
for us. She certainly helped bring poise,
professionalism and connectivity to the
programme

9. Derek told the story of Squareknot – The
initial concept was devised by Derek and
fellow Squareknot director Brian Smillie
almost a year ago to the day.
Louise firstly invited Derek Bond, Managing
Director of Squareknot to the stage
Derek welcomed everyone, and offered his
thanks for such an overwhelming response
to Squareknot’s exciting launch

10. Derek shared some insights into his
experience in building Squareknot (alongside
the management team)
He also spoke of the uniqueness of the
Squareknot platform, and how it was the first
of its kind in Scotland
Louise re-took the stage to question Derek
on some aspects of crowdfunding, along
with some key features of Squareknot’s
model and vision

11. “...There has never been a better time to start a
business in Scotland...”
Jim repeated this mantra several times, and
went on to express his appreciation for what
Squareknot have managed to achieve in such
a short period of time
One of the great highlights of the evening was
the speech by Entrepreneur and CEO &
Founder of Entrepreneurial Spark Jim Duffy
Jim’s animated speech grabbed the attention
of the audience, and served to enshrine the
significance of the evening

12. Kession helped Squareknot achieve FCA approval
as their Appointed Representative in an almost
unheard of three days.
Ian and Mike discussed the regulatory framework
that Squareknot worked within, and some of the
laws and practices surrounding crowdfunding
Squareknot are amongst the unique few in
crowdfunding who have already been pre-
approved by the FCA, before new regulations
come into place
Corporate lawyer and Squareknot director Ian
Young, took the stage with Mike Kessler of
Kession Capital Limited.

13. The 6 entrepreneurs discussed their pitches in
depth, giving insight into why they were
seeking funding, and how it would be used
The also shared their views on other
platforms, and why Squareknot offered a
different path
Whilst the audience had to wait until later
in the evening to ask their burning
questions, Louise introduced
representatives from Squareknot’s
inaugural six pitching companies

14. From left to right we have Ian Young
(Corporate Lawyer), Tom Preston (CA &
Business Angel), Derek Bond (CA & Former
Finance Director), Iain Webster (Corporate
Finance Specialist) and Brian Smillie Jr.
(Marketing Expert)
By the end of the evening it was time for the
Squareknot management team to be grilled by
Louise, before the audience were invited to pose
their questions to the team
The management team predominantly come
from a finance, accounting or corporate law and
governance background

15. Derek and the team made sure the
audience didn’t leave with any unanswered
questions, and announced exciting plans
for new video conferencing features to be
unveiled on the site, along with an
impending Australia launch
The audience understandably had lots of
questions for the team, from loan
assurance the business model questions,
to more hot topic issues such as growing
competition within the market

16. Our congratulations go out to Ramsay Duff for
being our lucky winner
Mr. Duff chose to invest his winnings with Log
Six Systems and Internet Anywhere, both of
which can be found on the Squareknot
website
One of the highlights of the evening was
the award of the £500 investment prize
To be entered, guests had to have signed
up as a registered user to the Squareknot
website

17. The evening proved a great success, with
the last guests leaving some time after the
presentations had come to a close
Following the award of the £500
investment prize, Louise and Derek
rounded off the evening, inviting everyone
to come and meet the Squareknot team,
and the pitching companies

18. We’d also love to get your feedback on the
evening, so if you attended, please help us by
filling in this 1 Minute Survey about the event.
Thanks to everyone for a fantastic night,
The Squareknot Team
We’d like to thank everyone again who
attended. We hope you’ll continue to share in
the Squareknot journey with us by registering
on the Squareknot website, if you haven’t
managed to already