Democratizing the stock exchange 🏦; Web3 Super App of Africa 👀; FTX goes into gaming 🕹

Good Morning FinTech, February 22

Good day Everyone,

And happy Tuesday! I hope Monday wasn’t too harsh for you. If it was for any reason, these 3 awesome FinTech stories will definitely give you a mental boost:

Democratizing the stock exchange 🏦

The money 💸 PrimaryBid, the FinTech platform that connects retail investors with public companies raising capital, has closed a $190M Series C investment round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, with participation from existing investors.

The latest investment follows PrimaryBid’s $50m Series B funding round in October 2020, which included support from the London Stock Exchange, alongside Molten Ventures, Omers Ventures, Fidelity International Strategic Ventures, ABN AMRO Ventures, Outward VC, Pentech, and Hambo Perks.

The USP 🥊 Founded in 2015, PrimaryBid seamlessly connects everyday investors with public companies. Through a long-term agreement with the London Stock Exchange, it ensures that retail investors transact at the same time and at the same price as institutional investors, creating a more democratized access to public markets. To date, it has been involved in 90 issuances on London markets, including Compass Group, Ocado, Taylor Wimpey, and William Hill.

Growth 🚀 Since the Series B funding, PrimaryBid has become fully regulated in the European Union and launched alongside Euronext in France in June 2021. During this time, over 150 follow-on and IPO transactions have been listed on the platform in the UK.

PrimaryBid also extended its geographical and product footprint by expanding its API services into Europe, conducting its inaugural transaction in France, and launching a new retail bond product.