Me, documenting my startup journey.

Put simply, Incept.io is exactly what I’d like to think you would imagine if you were asked to do a face-mash of Freetrade and Crowdcube.

Now that I’ve said that, I know exactly what you’re thinking…

“What the hell are you on about, Emmanuel?”

It’s a fair question— I know I’m speaking in parables, but bare with me. I promise I’ll get to the point (in about a minute).

With my somewhat compulsive interest in both startups and investing; I’ve always loved the idea of VC funding, angel investing, equity crowdfunding and other ways in which people can acquire shares in startups. I’m more so interested in the topic when the investing is done by your average joe.

I remember hearing the story of an investor on the podcast ‘Start up’ by Gimlet Media. The investor — a guy named Chris, loved the feeling of placing early bets of companies he believed in. A former colleague of Chris’ showed him an early prototype for a social networking platform he was working on. Chris loved the idea so much he found the chance to invest in the company, “irresistible”. The company name? Twitter. The investor? Chris Sacca (Google him).

Given the number of stories like Chris’, it’s no surprise that public interest in investing in startups has increased at a rate that I like to describe as unreal.

With the increasing popularity of startup investing, there has however, been one glaring problem which I haven’t been able to shake. Unlike ordinary investing, investors in start ups are usually restricted when it comes to selling their investments. This means that, unless a start up is acquired by another company or decides to go public, investors may find themselves waiting with their eyes closed and finger crossed.

That’s why the I came up with the idea of Incept.io: an investment platform where people can sell their existing investments in start ups and find new start ups to invest in.

Though the platform we are building may seem simple enough, it requires the team and I to get to grips with a bunch of things like funding, regulation, development and acquiring and retaining users. The list goes on.

Whilst we are working on making Incept.io, we are inviting you to join us for the ride. We plan to be super transparent (well…as transparent as possible) throughout the journey, showing you what it’s like to build a FinTech from early stage, onwards.