Appital raises another £1.7m after integrating with FactSet, FlexTrade, and TS Imagine
“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.”
Appital has secured an additional £1.7 million investment from Frontline Ventures and various angel investors, following last year’s £2.5m round led by the same venture capital firm.
The fundraiser brings the total investment to date to £4.85 million as the fintech aims to bring automation to equity markets, having already integrated with leading EMS providers FactSet, FlexTrade, and TS Imagine, and executing brokers Bernstein and Instinet.
Appital to launch algorithmic bookbuilding platform
Appital plans to launch an algorithmic bookbuilding platform in partnership with LSEG subsidiary Turquoise in order to allow buyside firms will be able to execute all deals through the MTF via a single point of access and with seamless straight-through processing (STP) to over 20 settlement venues.
“These are all crucial steps to developing the necessary technology and market infrastructures to bring Appital’s innovative bookbuilding platform to equity markets participants”, said the firm about the integrations and the algorithmic bookbuilding platform.
The Appital platform aims to give buyside firms exposure to deal flow opportunities often in excess of multiple days ADV, with real-time visibility, full transparency and maximum control over the bookbuilding and deal distribution process.
The buyside community is thus able to originate and participate in liquidity discovery, price formation and execution opportunities in multiple days ADV in publicly listed equities.
The platform offers full transparency and maximum control over institutional investors’ bookbuilding and deal distribution process, so they can actively drive liquidity in the marketplace.
Over 30 asset managers, collectively managing more than US$30 trillion, have joined or are in the process of joining Appital, the firm added as it proactively engages with more asset managers to increase the depth of available opportunities and liquidity within the platform.
Bringing automation to equity markets
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.”
