Re: " We need to act before it’s too late and London’s success is threatened. "
"BECAUSE IT IS AN INVESTMENT IN A STARTUP."
It's more like a donation than an investment. An investment usually buys you a share of the profits. Crowd funding isn't even close to being an investment. Depends on the funding model and the reason for the crowd funding campaign. Depending on the model, it's an advance payment for a product which you may not get, it's a donation with a specified reward (eg my LOHAN engraved glass tankard) worth much less than the donation (or the model doesn't work), or it's just an outright donation with no reward/payback at all.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
