California-based equity management unicorn Carta has acquired London-based rival Capdesk for an undisclosed sum.
Capdesk’s platform allows businesses to monitor their capitalisation tables, which shows the split and dilution of equity in a company.
The software also lets employers convert equity, options and warrants into employee benefits. Similarly, Carta can be used to manage cap tables, compensation and valuations.
Following the acquisition, Capdesk users will gain access to Carta’s products. Carta will use Capdesk to expand its presence in Europe as part of its compliance push with the UK’s HMRC and Companies House.
It is Carta’s second acquisition of a UK company since July, having acquired London-based VC investment platform Vauban.
Henry Ward, co-founder and CEO of Carta, said: “We’ve been following Capdesk’s impressive journey for years. Before Capdesk, employers would have had to manage equity manually with legal counsel in each country.
“With Capdesk, employers can simply onboard and trust one single provider with managing the detailed requirements of multiple jurisdictions.”
Used by the likes of Gousto, Checkout.com and Wagestream, Capdesk says it manages over £90bn of assets.
According to Carta, it looks after the equity for over 30,000 businesses, 5,000 funds and 500,000 employees, managing in excess of £1.5tn. Its clients include Canva, Tribe, and Pipe.
“We founded Capdesk with a vision of changing finance for good by leveraging the power of equity for the benefit of founders, investors and employees alike. I’m thrilled we’ve identified a shared vision in Carta. This deal will enable us to further strengthen our position across Europe,” said Christian Gabriel, co-founder and CEO, Capdesk.
The London company was in talks about a potential Series B before entering takeover talks with Carta. To date, Capdesk has raised £11.7m in funding. Initially, Capdesk will continue to operate independently.
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