Jonathan Keeling

edge.

Equity crowdfunding for the world’s best brands.

Clients include: Social Tip, Tallow & Ash, WatchHouse Coffee, BEAR, Naked Sprout, Disco, Northern Monk and more…

Founder

WineFi 🍷

The world has changed. It's time wine investing changed with it.

Fine wine is a fascinating asset class, but investing in wine has remained opaque, expensive and inaccessible. WineFi makes it easy to gain diversified exposure to the wine market, without the cost of using a traditional broker.

Non Executive Director

Crowdcube

I led a team or marketers and portfolio managers, taking Crowdcube through its next phase of evolution as a leading private investment platform.

I Ideated and led industry first partnerships with James Watt, Octopus Investments, Tax Scouts, Haatch & Fuel Ventures.

It was an incredible year working with a hardworking and dedicated team.

Chief Growth Officer

Responsible for campaign execution & Crowdcubes portfolio.

VP Commercial

Responsible for partnerships & the business case to hire a team to monetise interactions with Crowdcube’s portfolio.

Partnerships & Portfolio Director

Ideated, implemented and scaled our partnerships programme responsible for 30% of company revenue.

Head of Partnerships

WorkClub

I have known the WorkClub founder, Nick since school and we have worked on multiple ideas together. WorkClub was the idea that stuck and I thoroughly enjoyed supporting the business up until it’s acquisition by Upflex in Dec 2021.

Advisor

Pavegen

I was part of Pavegens founding team, originally joining as an intern. I led the commercial side from pre-revenue to £3M in annual sales. I closed contracts with some of worlds largest brands including Shell, Adidas, Westfield’s and Google. I also led a £2M crowdfund on Crowdcube.

Founding team, Intern to MD

Centrica

Summer graduate scheme, providing strategy recommnedations for the roll-out of SMART metering for a £1.5bn business unit within British Gas Business.

Graduate Associate

Research grant in partnership with the FAO, United Nations as part of my MSc thesis. I spent time in Italy, Rome at FAO HQ, and 3 months in Kabale, Uganda. The experience was nothing short of life-changing and Uganda is no doubt one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Research Grant

I'm the ex-CGO of Crowdcube, where I spent nearly a decade supporting some of Europes best founders and executing the biggest equity crowdfunding rounds of all time raising £1bn+ for 1000+ companies.

I'm now the founder of edge working with clients to deliver world class crowdfunding rounds. I started edge to channel my passion for working with amazing founders and helping them create category-defining brands.

I am a 2x TEDx speaker, a featured guest on various podcasts, and a regular panelist and speaker at global events on topics such as growth, innovation, and crowdfunding.

Get in touch: http://www.get-edge.co.uk/

Responsible for marketing, campaigns and Crowdcube’s portfolio.

Eric Schmidt (ex-Google CEO) has a nice way of putting it:

“If you went to business school, you’d be taught to build a great product, organise a sales force, charge a fair price, and make the customer happy. But that’s not enough in the Internet era.”

Translation:

Building a solid business ≠ building a scalable one.

Why?
▫️ Scaling a sales-heavy business is like pushing water uphill.
▫️ The big winners reinvent the model so growth doesn’t depend on armies of reps.

Eric’s challenge to founders: think bigger.
💡 What if your product was free, and you monetised later?
💡 Which platforms will dominate in 5 years and how do you piggyback on them now?

Back in 2016, he called it: Android, iOS, machine learning. (Not bad, Eric.)

Takeaway → scalability isn’t just about process. It’s a mindset shift.

Agree, or think he’s overstating it?

If you are building a more open investment landscape, where community, access and strong brand stories drive momentum, you can subscribe to my newsletter here on LinkedIn.

It is where I share what we are learning as more people get the chance to back the businesses they believe in.

Credit Chris Tottman

Partner at Haatch | Top 1% crowdfunding at edge | Board Director at WineFi🍷

I'm looking to chat with a CRM and email Automation Specialist. We are looking for someone who can help us build relatively complex email sequences powered by multiple behavioural triggers.

This could be a freelancer, consultant, or specialist agency who can:
✅ Design and implement trigger-based email journeys
✅ Integrate with our CRM and wider workflow
✅ Support ongoing optimisation and performance tracking

If you know anyone brilliant or if this is your sweet spot, I’d love to connect. Drop me a message or tag them below.

Q3 Haatch in Numbers

👉 £90m total capital raised, +6.9% QoQ. 
👉 2,216 investors, +19.85% QoQ. 
👉 £7.7m deployed across 57 investments in 22 companies so far. 
👉 Our 4th profitable exit of 2025: Tangible Markets at 42.59% IRR. 

Retail momentum continues with a record SEIS 11 on Crowdcube: £4m+ total, 344 new investors contributing £1.37m, and 1,087 investors now from retail allocations.

Also proud to see the BE100 prize fund finally launched! cc: Blue Earth

Top areas we’re leaning into: Applied AI, Cyber, Fintech.

Swipe the carousel for co-investors, portfolio news, and open roles across the ecosystem.

Q3 HIN

Excited to continue our journey with YASO as they announce their $11m Series A, led by Puma Growth Partners alongside Guinness Ventures, Playfair and Portfolio Ventures 

We first backed the team in 2022, recognising their vision to build the operating system that enables Western consumer brands to scale into China. Today, that vision is becoming reality, with YASO providing the infrastructure for storefronts, payments, logistics and compliance in the world’s largest e-commerce market.

Proud to be doubling down and supporting Jonny Pleinn, James Campbell 甘吉Adam Knight and the team as they take this next step.

Read the full blog here: https://lnkd.in/eZt3P2Ss

Lost in startup jargon? You’re not the only one.

The truth is, ignoring it doesn’t just leave you confused, it can actually hold you back.

When you’re not fluent in the language of startups, you risk missing out on key conversations, introductions, and opportunities.

Most people think the answer is endless hours of:

📚 Industry blogs
🎧 Podcasts
📖 Books

But there’s a quicker way.

This cheat sheet breaks down the essentials from “angel investors” to “growth hacking.”

So instead of just nodding when someone mentions an MVP or revenue streams, you’ll be able to jump into the discussion with confidence. 🚀

If you are building a more open investment landscape, where community, access and strong brand stories drive momentum, you can subscribe to my newsletter here on LinkedIn.

It is where I share what we are learning as more people get the chance to back the businesses they believe in.

Credit Chris Tottman & Rubén Domínguez Ibar

Venture Capital seems to be the defacto thought when it comes to fundraising but less than 1% of founders do so successfully. For those that don’t fit the VC outlook there are other options to give your businesses the stable footing that it needs. 

Crowdfunding is often seen as a simple capital-raising tool, but for many founders now see it as a strategic choice rooted in a clear vision for how they want to build and grow their company. Building for a community first vs building then finding a community second.

For many companies, the decision to crowdfund was a conscious effort to stay close to their core customers and avoid the influence of professional investors. As one founder put it, crowdfunding allows you to raise money without having to "convince a handful of big investors to believe in you." Instead, you are building a community of people who already do.

This approach offers key advantages:

Values Alignment: It attracts investors who genuinely want to see the business succeed for the right reasons, particularly for mission-driven brands.

Brand Ambassadors: The investors who love your product become your most powerful brand advocates, helping to build momentum far beyond the initial capital raise.

Direct Control: Founders maintain more control over their company's direction and avoid potential values misalignment with professional investors who may prioritize different outcomes.

While crowdfunding is a brave and public process, it offers a way to build a company on a foundation of shared vision and community ownership. It proves that you can scale a business by bringing your fans along for the journey, and that the best investors are often the people who believe in your mission from day one.

If you are building a more open investment landscape, where community, access and strong brand stories drive momentum, you can subscribe to my newsletter here on LinkedIn.

It is where I share what we are learning as more people get the chance to back the businesses they believe in.

Who knew the real LinkedIn growth hack was just posting a CRM project brief? 😩  

If you DM'd. Sorry if I haven't come back to you yet!

I am excited to take the project forward with what is shaping up to be an awesome shortlist...

Roughly 95 million cups of coffee are drunk every day in the UK.

For many, it's a daily ritual: the morning brew that powers the commute or the post-run pick-me-up. But a professional-grade coffee at home has always felt like a different world, often requiring a complex setup and a serious cash outlay.
Pro Espresso changed that.

They recognised the "prosumer" coffee community, the people who want café-quality coffee at home without the complexity or the cost. Their subscription model turns a one-off, expensive purchase into an accessible, recurring service.

For a fixed monthly fee, you get a top-tier machine and a regular supply of fresh beans.

This is not just about a machine and a bag of beans. Pro Espresso built their business around the experience. Their trade-in offer for existing Sage machines provides a clear upgrade path for customers ready to go from a simple pour to full control. They have built a community that brings the high-end barista experience to the kitchen counter.

What Pro Espresso got right:

They democratised the prosumer market, turning a high-cost purchase into an accessible subscription.

They solved the "whole package" problem, bundling machines, beans, and support into a single offering.

They provided an upgrade pathway, giving enthusiasts a way to move from consumer to super user.

They built a community of true believers, not just a list of customers.

If you are building a more open investment landscape, where community, access and strong brand stories drive momentum, you can subscribe to my newsletter here on LinkedIn.

It is where I share what we are learning as more people get the chance to back the businesses they believe in.

Community-Led Growth, a New Gear for Business

In a crowded market, simply having a great product is no longer enough. The most successful and fastest-growing companies today are building more than just solutions; they are building communities around their users. 

This shift lift customers from cheque writers to advocates, shareholders and supporters.

CLG is not a side project. It’s a core business engine that leverages a community to drive outcomes like customer acquisition, retention, and engagement. Unlike models that build from the solution, CLG starts with the user.

A business utilising a strong community-led growth strategy is defined by several key features:

The Community Flywheel: A powerful, compounding cycle where growth in the community directly fuels business growth, which in turn attracts even more members.

User-Centric Feedback: Feedback is not just collected; it's shared organically among members, allowing the company to capture valuable, unfiltered insights that inform product, marketing, and sales teams.

Cross-Functional Ownership: The responsibility for community engagement is shared across the entire organisation from product and marketing to sales and customer success not just siloed in one department.

Champion Advocacy: The strategy intentionally identifies and empowers "champions" or prolific contributors, who become powerful brand advocates through their active participation and peer-to-peer support.

Focus on Member-to-Member Interaction: The primary value of the community is designed to be the connections between members, not just their relationship with the company. This self-sustaining network drives deeper loyalty and a sense of shared value.

Ultimately, CLG helps businesses build a durable competitive advantage. By putting the needs of the community first, companies can transform users into advocates, improve key business metrics, and build a lasting, authentic relationship with their customers.

If you are building a more open investment landscape, where community, access and strong brand stories drive momentum, you can subscribe to my newsletter here on LinkedIn.

It is where I share what we are learning as more people get the chance to back the businesses they believe in.

For most people, electric bikes have always felt like a trade-off. You get the convenience of a motor but you have to shell out for another bike. You are either buying a bulky, expensive new ride or you are stuck with the one you have.

Swytch wanted to remove that choice entirely.

They created an eBike conversion kit that allows you to turn any bike into an electric one in a matter of minutes. The power pack can fit any frame and can be swapped on and off whenever you fancy, giving you a boost without permanently changing the look of your ride.

This focus on simplicity and accessibility paid off. Swytch's Crowdcube campaign was powered by over 700 investors who buy into upgrading bikes rather than replacing them. They’re currently sold out after having sold 800,000 units to date. Their success shows what happens when you democratise a market, build a business around an elegant, simple solution, and turn customers into co-owners.

If you are building a more open investment landscape, where community, access and strong brand stories drive momentum, you can subscribe to my newsletter here on LinkedIn.

It is where I share what we are learning as more people get the chance to back the businesses they believe in.

The Unseen Engine of Business Growth

Businesses aren't building communities to create an echo chamber to pat them on the back. Their value lies in direct feedback, honest input, and a group of stakeholders who genuinely want to see the business succeed. This is what transforms a user base into a powerful referral engine.

The data on referrals is compelling and shows where a company's most valuable growth comes from. 92% of consumers trust recommendations from family and friends over all other forms of advertising. When a business builds a community, it taps directly into this trusted network.

This synergy between community and referrals creates powerful business outcomes:

Efficient Growth: Referred customers have a 16% higher lifetime value and are more profitable. The cost to acquire them is significantly lower, with one study finding a $23.12 difference in CAC compared to non-referred customers.
Higher ROI: Referral programs generate a 3 to 5 times higher conversion rate. This contributes to an overall ROI that can be 10 times higher for large enterprises.

Unwavering Loyalty: Customers who are referred have a 37% higher retention rate. This peer validation creates a loyalty that is difficult to replicate with traditional marketing, ensuring the community continues to expand from within.
By focusing on fostering a community, a business builds more than just a network. It cultivates a scalable, resilient, and highly profitable growth machine.

If you are building a more open investment landscape, where community, access and strong brand stories drive momentum, you can subscribe to my newsletter here on LinkedIn.

It is where I share what we are learning as more people get the chance to back the businesses they believe in.

Taplio

Jonathan Keeling's Linkedin Analytics

's Best Posts (last 30 days)

Want to drive more opportunities from LinkedIn?

Taplio

.css-1jgreyo{background-image:linear-gradient(284deg, rgba(39,43,72,1) 0%, rgba(33,47,183,1) 100%);color:transparent;-webkit-background-clip:text;background-clip:text;}Jonathan Keeling's Linkedin Analytics

's Best Posts .css-qqfgvy{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);}(last 30 days)

Want to drive more opportunities from LinkedIn?

Jonathan Keeling's Linkedin Analytics

's Best Posts (last 30 days)