Primary Bid, an online platform that enables retail investors to gain access to discounted equity offerings of publicly listed companies, has closed a GBP2 million investment round led by funds managed by Lombard Odier, family offices and a series of angel investors.
The proceeds will fuel Primary Bid’s pan European expansion plan, which will give retail investors exclusive opportunities to buy shares in quoted companies across the Eurozone at discounted rates.
Commenting on the funding round, Anand Sambasivan, co-founder and CEO of Primary Bid, says: “A key objective for Primary Bid is to allow pan-European retail investors seamless access to pan-European public equity offerings. Whether a publicly listed company is issuing new equity or the government is selling down its holdings, we believe retail investors deserve the same access as institutional investors. This vision is very much in line with the European Capital Markets Union legislation, which aims to further integrate capital markets across EU states.”
Over the past three years Primary Bid has rapidly grown into a dynamic, award winning investment platform that is democratising the public equity issuance market by allowing retail investors the ability to participate in equity offerings at the same time and price as institutional investors. To date, more than GBP56m has been sourced via the company’s platform.
Previously, retail investors were shut out from buying shares in listed companies – and listed companies that wanted to engage with their retail shareholders had no efficient method to connect with them directly.
“This latest founding round brings us closer to achieving our ambition to extend our service beyond the UK and make it easier for retail investors to participate in new share issues in different markets,” says Sambasivan. “We are fixing a huge, longstanding inefficiency in the stock market and look forward to generating more client opportunities through our expansion plans.”
