A fintech company that enables ordinary investors to access corporate fundraisings has raised $190 million in new funding.
PrimaryBid secured the investment from Softbank’s Vision Fund 2. The Japanese conglomerate’s fund, known for backing technology start-ups and other high growth companies, provided the funds as well as existing investors.
The proceeds of the investment will be used to expand PrimaryBid’s offering across continental Europe and leverage “key partnerships” with ABN Amro, the Dutch bank, and Euronext.
It also plans to launch in new locations around the world, including the United States. The company said new executives, including general managers for North America and the EU, will be announced in the coming months.
Founded in 2015, PrimaryBid allows retail investors to participate in new equity issuances on the same terms as institutional investors, via a phone app. It takes orders through the app from thousands of retail investors, pools them and within a couple of hours is in a position to put in a single large application to the placing brokers.
The platform has been used for the public listings of companies including Deliveroo, PensionBee, the fintech group, and the listing of Soho House’s parent company, the Membership Collective Group, in the United States.
“Our ambition is to democratise public market offerings through a combination of technology, data and advocacy. Our platform deepens the relationships public companies have with their stakeholders and helps them make their equity and debt offerings more inclusive,” Anand Sambasivan, PrimaryBid’s co-founder and chief executive, said.
“This fundraising will enable us to deliver PrimaryBid’s infrastructure to companies internationally, expand our product portfolio, and attract best-in-class technology and capital markets talent.”
In October 2020 PrimaryBid raised $50 million as it secured backing from investors including London Stock Exchange Group, Draper Esprit, the venture capital firm now known as Molten Ventures, and Omers Ventures, the venture investment division of Omers, the Canadian pension fund.
Since then PrimaryBid has become fully regulated in the European Union, launched alongside Euronext in France in June 2021.
In September the company appointed Sir Donald Brydon, the former chairman of the London Stock Exchange, as its chairman.
Anthony Doeh, a partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, said: “PrimaryBid is powering inclusivity in the capital markets by making it simple and easy for anyone to access stock issuances previously reserved for institutional or professional investors.
“We believe the team has created a platform that combines technology, data and an ‘ecosystem friendly’ approach to the challenge of widening participation, including developing a unique community IPO platform for corporate issuers. We’re excited to partner with them and believe we can add significant value to the business through our global network and expertise.”
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PrimaryBid, champion of small investor, raises £190m