Back at square one: Crowdcube co-founder Darren Westlake embarks on bold new venture following exit

Two decades ago, Darren Westlake set out to transform startup funding in the UK with the launch of Crowdcube.

Fast forward 20 years and the entrepreneur finds himself in a familiar position – back at square one – after stepping down as CEO of the platform last year to “start again.”

His new project, Disco, sits somewhere between social media platform and recommendation engine – a combination which Westlake hopes will one day position it alongside Spotify as one of the world’s most influential music apps.

The platform, built on Spotify’s API, is currently in the beta stage, but has already attracted a few hundred users, with 40 per cent of those using it on a monthly basis, Westlake said.

‘It’s taking the isolation out of listening to music’

“The idea is to create a space where users can share their own music tastes and see what their friends are listening to, too,” he added.

“It’s a throwback to the days where you’d sit around listening to records with your friendship group. It’s taking the isolation out of listening to music.”

The venture is close to his heart. Before entering the world of business, Westlake spent many a Saturday night as a DJ on Manchester’s club circuit, an experience that fuelled his passion for underground music.

Now, he’s aiming to tap into growing frustration among UK music fans that platforms like Spotify are hindering new music discovery, making it harder for emerging artists to reach fresh audiences.

Westlake said: “The big apps have commercial interests in the music industry and so they’re incentivised to promote certain tracks to the detriment of smaller musicians. We want to level the playing field.”

But despite his proven track record of turning start-ups into mega-firms, Westlake confessed he was nervous about being back at ground zero.

“I have found it weirdly nerve-wracking,” he said. “You always want to make a big success with whatever you do, no matter what you’ve done previously.

“In a way there’s even more pressure now because people are paying attention to what I’m up to.”

One thing that is different this time around, however, is Westlake’s fundraising options.

Westlake: Crowdcube changed the rules

Before Crowdcube, which Westlake launched in 2011 alongside his co-founder Luke Lang, British start-ups had limited options for raising money.

The options were pretty much limited to chasing venture capital, getting a bank loan, or courting angel investors – who, according Westlake, were mostly “old white guys.”

He said: “I knew first hand how hard it was to find investment as a start-up from my early days trying – and failing – to launch start-ups.

“There was a huge amount of challenges in terms of regulations – a lot more than we realised when we started Crowdcube – which pandered to those standard, suit-wearing investors. The platform changed the rules.

“We started to lobby for specific crowdfunding regulations which luckily, was very successful.

“Around 2012, 2013, when we started to see an acceleration in the startup market as a direct result of founders having the option to crowdfund.

Since then, notable Crowdcube success stories have included pub chain BrewDog and, more recently, banking app Monzo, both of which raised tens of millions of pounds via the platform.

This week, Westlake will kick-off his own crowdfunding campaign on the platform in a move he hopes will not only raise capital, but also product awareness.

He said: “Our goal is to have our users build and invest in the platform. When an investor is also a user, they’re not just financially involved—they’re enthusiastic advocates who help spread the word.

“Look at examples like Monzo and Revolut; their early growth was fuelled by enthusiastic users who heard about them through crowdfunding.”