Change Powered by Community: Crowdfunder’s growth journey, from grassroots to global

Crowdfunder has become a powerful force for community-driven fundraising across the UK, empowering individuals and organisations to bring their ideas to life through the collective power of the crowd. From grassroots projects tackling local challenges to large-scale campaigns making national impact, the platform has helped thousands of people turn ambition into action.

In this interview, co-founder Dawn Bébe shares the story behind Crowdfunder’s beginnings, the early challenges they faced, and how Creative UK’s investment and partnership helped support their growth. She also looks ahead to the platform’s next chapter, as Crowdfunder takes its mission of funding positive change to a global stage.

Dawn Bébe

Creative UK: What inspired you to start Crowdfunder, and how has your vision evolved since then?

Dawn Bébe: Crowdfunder is all about funding positivity. One of our mission statements is tackling society’s challenges by making ideas happen. We realised that the best ideas don’t always come from councils or local authorities. They often live in the hearts and minds of people in the community who know how to solve problems, they just need a little funding and support to make it happen. And that’s what Crowdfunder unlocks.

When we first saw crowdfunding in the US, it was Kickstarter at the time, and it was all about products – watches, movies etc. We thought: what’s the British flavour of this? For us, it became about communities getting behind good ideas – whether that’s a dementia café or a film about the environment. The golden thread is community – the power of people coming together to make something good happen.

Creative UK: What challenges did you face in seeking early investment?

Dawn Bébe: When we first started, we were literally doing it in our lunch hours on the side. We had no money – just a sofa, a packing crate, and a work experience student. Plymouth University gave us a chunk of money that let us employ our first team member and take a lease on an office. But we were still small, and revenue wasn’t enough to sustain a business.

So we decided to crowdfund ourselves through Crowdcube. It was terrifying. We geared up with a pitch, a business plan, and our network. Then one day as I was heading towards the office, I looked at my phone to see a message that we had hit £150,000. Phil, our MD, was on the phone with Caroline Norbury from Creative England. She said, “That sounds like a rather good idea – how would you feel about £150,000?” And she followed through because she liked what we were doing.

Creative UK became an investor in the way we wanted to be invested in – through crowdfunding. Caroline came onto the board, and it was a great partnership from the beginning.

Creative UK: What to do think has made the partnership between Crowdfunder and Creative UK work so well?

Dawn Bébe: I suppose the most obvious is they have invested in us, which is always good. They’ve helped support us financially and offered advice at critical times, but it’s also about the bigger picture. We’ve run some really interesting campaigns together like Queen of Code for female coders, and iShorts, which funded new films – some of those filmmakers are now BAFTA-winning directors.

Creative UK have invited us to speak at and attend events, which helps us strengthen our brand, build networks, and stay in touch with the best-of-breed in the creative industries. Being based mainly in Cornwall and Dorset, that connection is really useful. More recently, we’ve joined as a full member so our whole team can benefit.

It’s not just a financial relationship. They’ve helped us become more integrated into the national creative industries ecosystem.

Creative UK: How does it feel to be launching Crowdfunder in the US?

Dawn Bébe: We see it as a massive opportunity – America, the land of the free and the funded. We think now is the perfect time. There’s lots of different platforms out there, but when you really look at it, they’ve all got different angles. There’s no one place where American communities can gather and make things happen together. There’s a gap.

We believe our platform, which is about funding positivity and community, can be part of the answer.

We’re starting off by looking for 50 founding projects. We’ll offer them extra funding and bespoke support to help them succeed. We’ve been trialing the product a bit in the States, and early reactions have been great. People are saying, “We’re really looking forward to this coming over, this is exactly what the US needs.”

We’re aware the US is a massive market, and we’re small by comparison, but we’re excited.

Creative UK: What does the future look like for Crowdfunder?

Dawn Bébe: We’re still quite ambitious and have a clear growth strategy. The US launch is a major focus, but there’s still a lot of growth potential in the UK. We want to grow our core crowdfunding product with more match-funding partners. We’re especially excited about working with Creative UK to support creative businesses through a new campaign.

Another area that’s grown fast is our prize draw functionality. We raised £1.2m with Glastonbury for War Child, Oxfam and the Red Cross, and also raised over £300,000 working with Chris Martin of Coldplay, who held an acoustic performance in Hackney Church at Christmas. It’s a brilliant tool for charities and creative organisations with a strong supporter base. We’re now working with venues like Theatre Royal Plymouth and English National Opera to develop this further. It’s been working well, and we’re talking to more organisations about how to use it.

Creative UK: What advice would you give other founders seeking investment – especially in socially driven businesses?

Dawn Bébe: Crowdfunding is a brilliant way to validate your idea. If you put it out there and beat your targets, it’s telling you the idea is good. If even your mum won’t put in a fiver, it’s a sign to rethink.

It’s also powerful as match funding or evidence when applying for grants. And it works really well for festivals and community events – great for preselling tickets and getting the word out.

Beyond that: be determined, be flexible, be entrepreneurial. Creative businesses still need to make money. You need to think in a business-like way about your project.

Crowdfunding also builds resilience. People who’ve supported you once will do it again. They become your advocates. You’re building a crowd that backs you – not just once, but over time.

Crowdfunder is one of Creative UK’s earliest investment partners. With a shared mission to back big ideas that deliver social impact, the partnership continues to grow, supporting creative communities and building a more positive, people-powered future.

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