VentureWave to take strategic majority stake in Funderbeam and contribute its capital, global networks, leadership and Vestiver platform capabilities
Co-investors in the round include Mistletoe; Draper Associates; and Kaidi Ruusalepp, the founder of Funderbeam
The group will serve institutional investors and angel networks globally in accessing venture deals and secondaries with a strong impact methodology and appraisal process
VentureWave, an Irish-based venture private equity group committed to impact investing and supporting high-impact entrepreneurs, and Funderbeam, the angel investing and trading platform, today announced that they have agreed to enter into a transaction to create a leading global entity which will serve institutional and angel investors in venture deal execution and secondaries.
VentureWave will take an active and strategic leadership role in scaling Funderbeam’s ground-breaking technology across venture assets. The Group now has an evolved US market entry strategy through Vestiver, the institutional venture platform.
Following the completion of the transaction, the group will target the entire life cycle of global venture investments and secondaries, from early-stage angel funding until pre-IPO secondaries.
“This transaction creates a powerful platform to fast forward Funderbeam’s vision which is to serve venture investments across borders and create a unique secondary market for private assets. The timing of the transaction couldn’t be better – we are strong at a time when the market is ready for our solution,” said Kaidi Ruusalepp, founder and CEO of Funderbeam.
“VentureWave’s investment in Funderbeam is a game-changer for the industry, shaping the future of venture markets and enabling access to global venture deals and secondaries. Together, we have the necessary assets, technology, and capital to take on the entire venture investment life cycle. This represents a transformative moment to put impact at the centre of the investment industry,” said Alan Foy, VentureWave Chairman.
Commenting on the investment, Managing Partner of VentureWave Capital, Kieran McLoughlin said “Our investment in Funderbeam will magnify greatly our Impact. It builds upon our direct investments in great Impact delivering businesses to supporting the entire Impact Investing sector. Together with Kaidi and her team, we will build a platform with global reach and an Impact Investing lens. Opportunities like this are rare. We are delighted to be in a position to create connections between investors and Impact entrepreneurs at a challenging time for many. We are delighted also to be working in partnership with such revered and committed Impact Investors as Tim Draper and Mistletoe. We all share a great vision for Funderbeam.”
“Private companies from venture investments have a long history of difficult liquidity. Our portfolio company, Funderbeam together with VentureWave allow venture backed startups to be liquid. This is a major breakthrough and the new liquidity will allow for GPs and LPs to more easily trade otherwise illiquid positions” said Tim Draper, founder of Draper Associates.
“Mistletoe is supporting impact companies. Companies that introduce change for the better in a way we live and do business. Funderbeam has been a pioneer in changing the way that the venture market works – democratising investments in startups and enabling exits when needed. Solution that puts founders first in their mission. It takes endurance and resilience to introduce novel models in the financial sector and we are very happy that the other impact investor, VentureWave, is joining in.” said Taizo Son, founder of Mistletoe.
Funderbeam will continue to serve investor networks and provide Private Market as a service; ‘Angel Market’. Following the transaction with VentureWave, it will now additionally serve institutional clients – VC funds, family offices, brokers and investment banks. Until the transaction is approved by the regulators in the UK, Singapore and Estonia, no further corporate level actions and decisions will be made.
