Crowdcube co-founder Westlake stands aside; is replaced by two internal promotions made co-CEOs

Darren Westlake, co-founder and CEO of UK-based fundraising portal Crowdcube, is standing aside to explore pastures new.

Westlake will be replaced by his chief operating officer Bill Simmons and chief commercial officer Matt Cooper.

It's a joint appointment with both Cooper and Simmons set to serve as co-CEOs. And Westlake will remain a major shareholder in the business, so it's not a full-blown parting of ways with the funding vision he embarked on 13 years ago.

During Westlake's time in charge,  Crowdcube enabled companies to raise €1.5 billion in crowdfunds, massively widening the net for early-stage innovation. Funding model established, the baton is passing to CrowdCube's next leaders and the scope for organic growth thanks to the shares marketplace model embraced by its Cubex platform, bringing the crowdfunding ethos to secondary transactions in private European companies.

Westlake's fellow CrowdCube co-founder, Luke Lang, left his role as chief marketing officer in mid-2021 clearing capacity for an external C-level draft in the form of ex-TotallyMoney CMO Nathan Levi.

In a press statement emailed to Tech.EU, Westlake said: "’I'm delighted for Bill and Matt who have a deep understanding of our business, capital raising and the retail investor landscape.

"I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved but after 13 years, more than 1,800 successful raises, over 1 million investors and €1.5bn of capital raised, it feels like a good time for me to step back from the company.

"Together with the rest of the Board, a succession plan has been formulated over the past 12 months ensuring that Bill and Matt will have the tools and support they need to build on everything Crowdcube has achieved to date and fully explore all the possibilities that lie ahead."