Investment platform PrimaryBid has secured $190m (£140m) in a Series C funding round led by SoftBank, the world’s largest technology investor.
The London-based fintech will use the funding for international expansion, including the US.
PrimaryBid will also use the additional capital for product innovation, growing its team and developing its partnership with ABN AMRO and Euronext.
PrimaryBid’s platform allows retail investors to join corporate funding events, such as IPOs, at the same time and prices as institutional investors.
Last year, the platform was used in the UK IPOs of Deliveroo, PensionBee and the US IPO of MCG Group (Soho House), providing access for UK members.
The Series C funding round, announced Monday, confirms a Sky News report last month.
SoftBank provided capital via its Vision Fund 2, an investment vehicle launched by the Japanese multinational in 2019 that totals more than $40bn. Some of PrimaryBid’s previous backers also provided additional funds.
“Our ambition is to democratise public market offerings through a combination of technology, data and advocacy,” said Anand Sambasivan, CEO and co-founder of PrimaryBid. “Our platform deepens the relationships public companies have with their stakeholders and helps them make their equity and debt offerings more inclusive.”
It brings PrimaryBid’s total funding to over $249m since Sambasivan co-founded it in 2016.
The investment follows on from the $50m Series B funding round in October 2020, which included investment from LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group), Molten Ventures (formerly Draper Esprit), OMERS Ventures, Fidelity International Strategic Ventures, ABN AMRO Ventures, Outward VC, Pentech and Hambo Perks.
After its Series B funding, PrimaryBid became fully regulated in the European Union.
Anthony Doeh, 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.”
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