Match-funding option for area’s businesses

Perth and Kinross Council has teamed up with online platform Crowdfunder to launch a new £ 150,000 Crowdfund Perth and Kinross Business Fund.

By matching up to £5000 of crowd-sourced funding, it is hoped the project will support individuals, businesses and communities to establish and grow businesses, projects and services and boost the local economy.

To be eligible, applicants must run a crowdfunding campaign on the Crowdfunder platform and meet certain criteria.

Perth and Kinross Council leader, Councillor Murray Lyle – a Conservative representative for the Strathallan ward – said: “This scheme supports and rewards those businesses and communities that not only have great entrepreneurial ideas, but already have support from the public and investors through crowdfunding.”

Cllr Lyle added: “We also launched a Micro Enterprise Fund this year to support small businesses and this new scheme will complement it.”

Su Johnstone is a business development manager with Crowdfunder.

She said: “Crowdfunder has already seen many dozens of small and medium-sized businesses successfully crowdfund in Perth and Kinross.

“We very much look forward to working alongside the business support community to deliver more opportunities for successful, sustainable economic growth across the region.”

The local authority has said Crowdfunder will be holding an online launch of the fund from noon until 1pm on Tuesday, February 15.

To find out more about the project, see the website www.crowdfunder.co.uk/funds/perth-and-kinrossbusiness.