SyndicateRoom, a UK Crowdfunding platform, has achieved intermediary status with the London Stock Exchange (LSE), in essence allowing crowdfunding investors to participate in initial public offerings (IPOs) and placings on the exchange’s Main Market and AIM, according to a SyndicateRoom.
The achievement is important not only for SyndicateRoom but also for similar platforms for equity crowdfunding, which have collectively been gathering steam among retail investors as a source for them to invest in promising startups.
In addition, the act also sees SyndicateRoom become the first crowdfunding platform to integrate with the public markets – this coincided with the approved intermediary status for $286.9 million (£200 million) IPO of HealthCare Royalty Trust Plc. Presently, SyndicateRoom is the only alternative finance company to afford its members with direct access to public and private equity markets. This helps their investor base via the diversification of exposures across myriad asset classes, under one consolidated platform.
Subsequently, SyndicateRoom members will also gain access to a pantheon of equity opportunities, which includes early-stage crowdfunding rounds, high-growth IPOs, pre-IPOs, and discounted placings encouraging greater investor loyalty.
Moreover, individual investors will also gain unique access to IPO capabilities, including the ability to participate in the IPO market and the opportunity to reap the same potential benefits from discounts for new equity issues.
According to Goncalo de Vasconcelos, CEO and co-founder of SyndicateRoom, in a recent statement on the LSE access: “SyndicateRoom has already built a large member base of online crowdfunding investors, helping to create a new equity-owning class – the mass affluent.”
We are now seeking to democratise access to the public market
“We are now seeking to democratise access to the public market, widening the reach of IPO discounts and putting the public back into IPO. SyndicateRoom’s move into the public equity market is another step in the evolution of the London Stock Exchange providing capital to growth companies, now with greater participation from individual investors,” he added.
“At SyndicateRoom we believe that equality should be at the heart of equity investment. Giving the retail community access to the same benefits that institutional investors enjoy signals a strong starting point to achieving just that,” noted SyndicateRoom's Head of Capital Markets, Tom Hinton in an accompanying statement.
