Crowdberry to finish funding drive for Bratislava elderly care and Alzheimers center

The first round of funding for a soon-to-be completed elderly care and Alzheimers facility just outside Bratislava is due to close next week. The equity crowdinvesting platform Crowdberry is gathering investors with the goal of raising €1.65m, according to Peter Bečar, who is driving the company's real estate initiatives. Investment is open to any individual, with the minimal baseline for investment set at €10,000. Those who invest in the current round of funding will be offered a preferred dividend at the total double digit return on investment, meaning they will be paid out before the project's original investors.

Investors will also be offered a reservation for family members in the center. This is typical of crowdfunding ventures, in which potential customers of the product being offered are often potential investors as well. Bečar says that crowdinvesting is often chosen by the original investors as a form of marketing as well as a source of finance. "They are showing they are transparent, they are open, and that they're willing to have other co-investors," he says.

He says that reconstruction work that began two years ago on a former state-owned hotel is nearing completion, with fitout work currently being carried out ahead of a November opening. The center will be the largest and most modern private facility of its kind in Slovakia. A total of 147 beds will be opened initially, to be followed by 100 more, with space for both retired seniors and a separate 24-hour care facility for the entire center. Bečar says the waiting list for customers is growing.