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Capdesk raises £5M to uplift employee share plans for European tech talent

Capdesk, a London, UK-and Copenhagen, Denmark-based equity management platform, has announced a £5 million Series A extension. The round was led by Fidelity International Strategic Ventures, a dedicated venture capital team at Fidelity International, and MiddleGame Ventures, the early-stage fintech venture firm. 

The top-up funding follows an initial raise of £3 million in 2020, led by Fuel Ventures, and brings the Series A total to £8 million. 

Capdesk enables privately-owned companies to manage their equity digitally via a single platform and has raised £11.7 million since being founded in 2015. The company clients include Gousto, Secret Escapes, Privitar, Voi Technology and Billie.

‘Seed to post-IPO’ equity solution

Capdesk caters to founders, employees and investors by digitising equity, options and warrants transactions and giving shareholders access to Europe’s largest private secondaries market through a partnership with Seedrs.

The Series A extension will position Capdesk to build a ‘seed to post-IPO’ equity solution for a traditionally underserved space in Europe. This entails extending its market offering to established private and publicly listed companies, while enhancing services for its existing customer base, and ensuring all stakeholders are empowered to meaningfully leverage their equity. 

Christian Gabriel, CEO and Co-Founder, Capdesk comments, “Today’s announcement makes Capdesk the best-funded equity management solution in Europe. With this investment, we can take a significant leap forward in our journey to create a European-wide digital ecosystem that allows for the safe, secure and fair transaction of equity.” 

Alokik Advani, Managing Partner, Fidelity International Strategic Ventures adds, “We’ve been watching the company’s growth closely and have been impressed with its digital capabilities for cap table and employee stock option plan management.”

Michael Meyer, Managing Partner, MiddleGame Ventures concludes, “Capdesk has the product, vision and dedication to customer service that will enable them to accelerate their market leadership.”

Provides liquidity to employee share plans

Capdesk helps fast-growing startups manage their cap tables and issue employee equity options, and allows individuals to cash in employee equity through a secondary market for shares in private companies. 

Capdesk’s growth is a piece of great news for Europe’s tech talent, who typically receive less equity than their US counterparts and must wait years for an IPO or acquisition to liquidate their shares. 

The firm has over £20 billion under management. CEO & founder Christian Gabriel has big plans to expand further across the continent and extend Capdesk’s product offering and increase headcount (which doubled in 2020). 

Their closest competitor is Carta in the USA, recently valued at $6.9bn – and the Capdesk team hope to find the same success in Europe. 

The post Capdesk raises £5M to uplift employee share plans for European tech talent appeared first on UKTN (UK Tech News).

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