Irish venture capital firm VentureWave has led a $40m (£31.7m) round into the investment site Funderbeam.
Headquartered in London, Funderbeam is an investment platform used by angel networks and institutional investors. On the platform, investors can invest and trade their shareholdings.
Mistletoe, Draper Associates and Funderbeam founder Kaidi Ruusalepp joined VentureWave, which takes a majority stake in Funderbeam, in the investment round.
Taizo Son, founder of Mistletoe, said: “Funderbeam has been a pioneer in changing the way that the venture market works – democratising investments in startups and enabling exits when needed.”
Ruusalepp, an Estonian entrepreneur, founded the investment platform in 2013. The business will now expand into new “venture assets” and enter the US via a “market entry strategy” with the institutional venture platform Vestiver.
“This transaction creates a powerful platform to fast forward Funderbeam’s vision which is to serve venture investments across borders and create a unique secondary market for private assets,” said Ruusalepp, who is also the CEO of Funderbeam.
“The timing of the transaction couldn’t be better – we are strong at a time when the market is ready for our solution”
Funderbeam said it will look to cover the full cycle of investments including pre-IPO secondaries. The company is also exploring adding institutional clients such as venture capital funds and investment banks.
Tim Draper, founder of Draper Associates, said: “This is a major breakthrough and the new liquidity will allow for GPs and LPs to more easily trade otherwise illiquid positions.”
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