Crowdcube unveils secondary market for private European companies
Crowdfunding platform Crowdcube has launched a secondary market for high-growth European businesses.
The market – called Cubex – will allow retail investors to buy and sell shares in private companies that they previously could not access.
Crowdcube said that the new marketplace was created in response to growing demand from its portfolio of companies.
“Gone are the days when a successful exit for businesses and investors meant only a blockbuster IPO or acquisition,” said Darren Westlake, chief executive and co-founder of Crowdcube.
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“As companies stay private for longer, and grow faster and become more valuable than ever before, this is a real boon for retail investors: a European marketplace to buy and sell equity in early-stage category-definers.”
Crowdcube has previously arranged one-off secondary transactions for multiple companies in its portfolio. Since 2017, the platform has delivered over £16m in liquidity through secondary shares.
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“As the age, size and profile of companies that raise capital via Crowdcube become older, larger and higher, Cubex will play a truly essential role in the way our investors and companies interact and benefit from one another’s presence on our platform,” added Westlake.
“Cubex allows companies to rejuvenate their shareholder registers with new blood; it rewards early supporters for their loyal backing, and it gives investors the chance to get behind Europe’s most ambitious businesses whose doors would otherwise be closed to them.”
Crowdcube added that it expects to become profitable again in the first half of 2021 and said that it has an “unprecedented” number of European businesses ready to fundraise with it in the coming weeks.
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