An Equity Capital Marketplace, Appital from London, has grabbed an additional £1.7 million investment from Frontline Ventures (which backed Baserow) and several angel investors. This funding follows the £2.5 million investment that it secured last year from the same investor in addition to angel investors. With the latest round, the total funding raised by the company accounts for £4.85 million.
World’s first algorithmic bookbuilding platform
The fresh funds will support Appital in its mission to bring technological innovation and automation to equity markets. It comes ahead of launching the world’s first algorithmic bookbuilding platform in partnership with Turquoise, a pan-European MTF, a majority owned by London Stock Exchange Group.
Shay Garvey, Founding Partner at Frontline Ventures, commented: “We are very happy to extend our funding to Appital ahead of its launch. Appital has a proven track record in securing partnerships with major EMS providers, executing brokers and a trading venue to address the lack of efficiency and control over existing bookbuilding and deal distribution processes. Their traction with global asset management firms is clear evidence of the need for their innovative solution for equity markets. We are delighted to back Appital’s vision.”
Mark Badyra, Chief Executive Officer of Appital, said: “This is a very exciting time for our business. In the run-up to our launch we have forged partnerships and built technology infrastructure to support a new buyside workflow, giving firms control over their bookbuilding processes and bringing a highly manual activity into an automated, algorithmically driven platform. We are thrilled to have secured additional investment from Frontline Ventures and our group of angel investors. In addition, we are very encouraged by the market response to our vision to bring buyside firms new opportunities to proactively source and interact with hard-to-find liquidity.”
Reimagines equity capital marketplace
Founded by Mark Badyra and Pete Correia in 2018 in London, Appital reimagines Equity Capital Marketplace by unlocking and uncovering liquidity for investors. Badyra worked in capital markets at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and at UBS, whilst Correia was head of technology at Fathom, creating solutions for clients such as Commerzbank, AlixPartners, Access Fintech, Aimia Inc and the GSMA.
Its distribution methodology is highly efficient, unbiased, and unconflicted, delivering a fair outcome for all market participants. Appital’s buyside community has access to real-time visibility, full transparency and maximum control over the bookbuilding and deal distribution process.
The seller lists their equity on Appital, which alerts potential buyers, whilst adhering to regulatory frameworks and user preferences. Appital takes care of compliance, Know Your Customer (KYC) and all other regulatory processes. The transaction is then completed automatically on the platform. The entire time to the transaction is hours rather than weeks and completed without an expensive broker or investment banker.
It has established successful integration with EMS providers FactSet, FlexTrade and TS Imagine, and executing brokers Bernstein and Instinet, in anticipation of Appital’s imminent launch. Through the partnership with Turquoise, buyside firms will be able to execute all deals through the Turquoise MTF, via a single point of access and with seamless straight-through processing (STP) to over 20 settlement venues.
