Equidate has achieved a run-rate of $1B trade volume this year
Equidate, the stock market for private technology companies, has announced a $50 million Series B financing round led by Financial Technology Partners (“FT Partners”), Panorama Point Partners, and Operative Capital. Equidate’s existing investors include Peter Thiel, Tim Draper, and Scott Banister.
“As a global leader in FinTech investment banking, we have executed many hundreds of private deals and have evaluated thousands more. I have rarely seen a business with Equidate’s potential to define the future of private company investment services,” said Steve McLaughlin, founder and CEO of FT Partners. “Equidate’s global technology platform has accelerated the behavioral shifts fueling the growth of the private markets, and we are excited to partner with them through this period of strong growth to create a truly foundational component of this new economy.”
Equidate, founded in 2014, is the leading stock market for private companies. The company’s global electronic trading platform connects individual and institutional investors with sellers like venture capitalists and shareholder employees, as well as some of the largest and most prominent private companies themselves. Equidate believes its run-rate of $1 billion of trade volume this year squarely places the company as both the market leader and the fastest growing player.
Responding to the current trend of growth companies staying private much longer, Equidate sees traditional institutional investors becoming significantly more active in the pre-IPO economy. The pre-IPO market has been dominated by networks of brokers for the last decade, and Equidate’s technology-centric approach is the key to unlocking the market’s true potential.
“Our recent growth has been powered by the entrance of significant global institutional players in our market,” said Samvit Ramadurgam, Founder and co-CEO of Equidate. “Many of these large investors made secondary investments for the first time ever in 2017, and it’s clear to us that this asset class is quickly becoming a dedicated part of their portfolios.”
“By combining data with our sophisticated technology, we’ve been able to operate at a level of scale, efficiency, and intelligence which to date has never before been seen in this industry,” said Sohail Prasad, Founder and co-CEO of Equidate. “This financing represents us entering our next phase of strong growth. We’ve been seeing outsized demand from international players, and our singular focus is now on the broadest global distribution of our platform onto the desks of institutions and into the hands of individuals.”
