Fintech star PrimaryBid secures £38 million in new funding from top backers to fuel expansion
Start-up PrimaryBid has secured $50 million (£38 million) in investment from top new shareholders including the London Stock Exchange Group, OMERS Ventures and Fidelity International Strategic Ventures.
The rising star of the British fintech world has helped ordinary retail investors buy into corporations as they have raised much-needed and heavily discounted capital during the pandemic.
The app, set up in 2016 by former Goldman Sachs banker Anand Sambasivan, allows people to register, go through a vetting process and apply for shares in a company. The app then collates investor applications into a single large submission for each company.
It has helped facilitate 41 profile capital raises since April.
They include the high-profile FTSE-100 catering giant Compass Group’s £2 billion share placing in May, and smaller capital-raisings for companies such as Ocado.
Co-founder, broker James Deal, had raised the start-ups initial funds from private equity groups Pentech Ventures and Investec's venture capital arm Outward VC, both of whom participated in the latest investment round.
The app has risen to prominence in part due to a deal with the London Stock Exchange that allows the app to put its details on announcements.
PrimaryBid is to use the new funding for “key senior hires” and to fuel an expansion into Europe, where it has an exclusive commercial agreement with stock exchange Euronext.
Sambasivan said: "Our technology has allowed thousands of retail investors to participate on equal terms with institutional investors, unlocking a large and important source of liquidity and long-term share ownership for corporate issuers.”
The chief executive added: “We are privileged to welcome a number of leading global investors in our Series B.
“I look forward to working with them as we expand PrimaryBid’s offering to retail investors in new markets, build our team and technology platform, and deepen our integration into the capital raising ecosystem.”
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