CloudMargin Attracts New US$10 Million Round of Investment Led by Leucadia National Corporation, IHS Markit
Doubles Client Base; Secures Commitments from First Two Global Investment Banks; Achieves 250 Percent Annual Growth in Collateral Agreements on Platform; Expands Strategic Partnership with IHS Markit
CloudMargin, the award-winning creator of the world’s first and only collateral and margin management solution native to the cloud, announced today the completion of a new round of investment in the company totaling US$10 million to support the firm’s rapid growth. The new investors are LVC, the venture investing arm of Leucadia National Corporation (NYSE: LUK), the publicly traded investment holding company and parent of Jefferies, the global investment banking firm; and IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO), a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions. Existing investors, including Illuminate Financial Management, also participated in the round.
In addition, CloudMargin significantly expanded the scope of its commercial alliance with IHS Markit announced last June. This will enhance the ability of IHS Markit to provide a more seamless and comprehensive suite of collateral management services to its customers.
“CloudMargin had the foresight to disrupt the industry with an innovative collateral solution native to the cloud that is robust, agile and cost effective,” said Ed Chidsey, Managing Director and head of pricing, valuations and reference data at IHS Markit. “These were key factors in our decision to not only to invest in the company, but to embrace them as a strategic commercial and technology partner as well.”
“We are pleased to partner with CloudMargin in its next phase of growth,” said Raphael Bejarano, Managing Director at Leucadia and Head of LVC. “The firm’s deep market expertise and world-class product position CloudMargin as the preferred solution across the capital markets to manage increasingly complex collateral and margin requirements.”
CloudMargin has more than doubled its client base over the past 12 months, adding global and regional asset managers, sell-side and regional banks, hedge funds and insurance brokers in Europe, the US and Asia Pacific. In addition, CloudMargin has received commitments from its first two global investment banks and expects both to be live by the end of the calendar year. This will lead to further rapid growth in this networked environment of sell-side and buy-side firms. CloudMargin has achieved 250 percent annual growth in the number of collateral agreements hosted on its award-winning platform and expects this growth to continue.
“We are delighted to have the support of LVC and IHS Markit, which bring complementary and critical value to our firm and our clients,” said CloudMargin CEO Steve Husk. “This investment allows CloudMargin to continue to provide unique value in the marketplace and capitalize on the significant demand from sell-side and buy-side capital markets participants for our solution. As CloudMargin remains the only native cloud-based offering in the space, we are ever-focused on improving the platform continuously while leveraging its accessibility, pricing flexibility and community that can be harnessed only with cloud technology.”
The investment will finance product development and growing connectivity to industry infrastructure. It will also help scale the company’s sales, partnerships and marketing efforts in both established and new regions.
