Invest in Chip Series A

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  • dont_use_vistaprint
    dont_use_vistaprint Posts: 601 Forumite
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    Its interesting that many millennial an gen-z trade interest and credit card rewards for a novel approach like this, a bit like Monzo offers no interest or switching incentive yet had waiting lists for current accounts. Based on this I'd say it could be good investment & theres not much fintech about in savings.
    "It is not the critic who counts..." - Theodore Roosevelt
  • ecnirp98
    ecnirp98 Posts: 58 Forumite
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    The worrying thing about CHIP is that it is targeted at people who struggle to save regularly, by taking smaller amounts that build up over time, but are these the type of people who can afford to invest upto £1200 and not see it again for a long time? I think allot of people are seeing this as way to make a quick killing, there are quotes from people on the forum area of £500 invested to being worth £60,000 in 5 years, which would be nice !!!

    Their model appears to be hoping they are bought up, which is possible.
  • surreysaver
    surreysaver Posts: 4,105 Forumite
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    I clicked the link to state my interest in the investment, but didn't like the pressure I was put under to invest by having a deadline. So I didn't invest. Seems a bit dodgy to me.
    I consider myself to be a male feminist. Is that allowed?
  • masonic
    masonic Posts: 23,275 Forumite
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    ecnirp98 wrote: »
    I think allot of people are seeing this as way to make a quick killing, there are quotes from people on the forum area of £500 invested to being worth £60,000 in 5 years, which would be nice !!!
    With venture funding such an outcome is possible, but the much more likely scenario is that £500 invested will be worth nothing in 5 years.
  • Zanderman
    Zanderman Posts: 4,683 Forumite
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    ecnirp98 wrote: »
    The worrying thing about CHIP is that it is targeted at people who struggle to save regularly, by taking smaller amounts that build up over time, but are these the type of people who can afford to invest upto £1200 and not see it again for a long time?

    Agree this is the oddest thing about this.

    Inviting investment with no guarantees of a return and possible a loss (which is what this is, despite the hype) is one thing.

    But doing this to a group of people who've been signed up because, in essence, they have difficulty saving is another thing entirely. Arguably very irresponsible.

    I'm with Chip purely for the benefit of a a direct debit on an account that I need a 'spare' DD not because I can't save. So I'm not their original target audience - and I assume I'm more savings-savvy than that target audience. I've had all their invitations to invest in the last couple of weeks - but I'm not going to touch them with a barge-pole. Too risky for me.
  • dont_use_vistaprint
    dont_use_vistaprint Posts: 601 Forumite
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    ecnirp98 wrote: »
    The worrying thing about CHIP is that it is targeted at people who struggle to save regularly, by taking smaller amounts that build up over time, but are these the type of people who can afford to invest upto £1200 and not see it again for a long time? I think allot of people are seeing this as way to make a quick killing, there are quotes from people on the forum area of £500 invested to being worth £60,000 in 5 years, which would be nice !!!

    Their model appears to be hoping they are bought up, which is possible.

    No they are not, not now at least, they are students and low paid workers who struggle to save anything! :-) Investors and users have very different aims, and its probably not even ethical to target the users with this , knowing this as they do.
    "It is not the critic who counts..." - Theodore Roosevelt
  • stevec59
    stevec59 Posts: 296 Forumite
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    I decided not to invest, but thanks to everyone that replied

    Steve
  • londoninvestor
    londoninvestor Posts: 1,350 Forumite
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    From the link posted above:
    Chip wrote:
    Making an equity investment is a commitment. Unlike buying shares in a public company, which you can trade any time, buying a stake in a startup means you don’t get your money back until the company ‘exits’.

    There are a couple of ways you might get your money out of your investment in Chip:
    • We take investment from a VC firm who offers to buy out some (or all) earlier investors
    • We are acquired (bought by) a bigger company
    • We go public in an Initial Public Offering and list our shares on the stock exchange

    If any of these things happen, you’ll make a profit from your initial investment.

    The line in bold surely cannot be stated as an unqualified truth. The business could struggle, and end up being acquired, but for less than investors paid for it.
  • Malthusian
    Malthusian Posts: 10,938 Forumite
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    pmjenkins wrote: »
    You invest via the Crowdcube platform.

    I'm out.

    This is the same outfit that pays "interest" based on how many people you recruit into the scheme, and claims to offer "savings" that aren't FSCS protected.

    Having built their suc...cesfully compiled list of people financially inexperienced enough to go for this, now they are raising money from them for angel investment into a loss-making micro-cap startup. After they have verified that they are all high-net-worth and sophisticated investors and that investing in this garbage is potentially suitable for them. Yes.

    I bet Initiative Q will be next up on CrowdCube.
  • londoninvestor
    londoninvestor Posts: 1,350 Forumite
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    I was also struck by this on their web page:
    Chip wrote:
    We’d guess that you’re interested in investing in Chip for one or both of the following reasons:
    1. You like the product and want to see it succeed/you’re eager to get your hands on Chip 2.0 & ChipX
    2. You’re optimistic about the future value of the company, and therefore the future value of your investment

    Maybe age and grumpiness has left me with a stony heart that is closed to the beautiful two-thousand-and-teens romantic possiblity of falling in love with an app... but #1 doesn't seem like a good reason at all! It might tempt me to buy a few shares in my favourite football team, or something where I was enthusiastic about the social or environmental benefits - but a savings app?

    #2 is a valid reason but I can't see where there is any information that might help me assess the value proposition!
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