Secondaries

Last year there were 407 IPOs in the US, and just 135 across the whole of Europe.

Why does that matter? Because IPOs provide liquidity to shareholders, and turn the notion of equity into a tangible gain for investors, founders and employees alike. They are proof that the equity system works for everybody who takes part. In trailing the US, European businesses don’t have that same evidence, and equity remains under-utilised.

The solution lies in secondaries

Capdesk offers liquidity without the pain, cost and volatility of an IPO. With secondary transactions, you can:

Clean up your cap table

Swap out early-stage angels for long-term institutions
Let founding investors and employees cash in and move on

Catalyse the value of equity

Help employees and investors realise the true value of their equity
Use regular liquidity events to motivate your employees
Give early investors control over their time horizon

Why Capdesk?

Capdesk is primed to support Europe’s secondaries market:

£1.3bn of the £8bn invested in UK startups in 2020 was invested into Capdesk customers
Europe’s best funded equity management solution
Partnered with Seedrs, the world’s largest private market

Our approach

Our approach to secondaries is designed with you in mind.

Need to find a buyer?

Take advantage of our partnership with Seedrs.

Get access to Europe’s largest private marketplace for equity
Seamlessly use Seedrs’ nominee structure on Capdesk
Initiate the process with just one set-up cost

Already know your buyer?

We’ll facilitate the transaction.

Manage a prearranged secondary transaction on Capdesk without entering the marketplace

How does it work?

Step 1

Configure secondary

Choose a Capdesk partner or configure your own buyer table to control who can buy what
Agree on price, maximum volume and terms including window
Use standard secondary templates or upload your own
Configure seller table and control who is invited to sell what
Handle preemption rights by having shareholders waive rights

Step 2

Monitor execution

Buyers: place orders by e-signing and funding escrow account on the platform
Sellers: place orders by e-signing and registering bank account on the platform. Receive guidance throughout the automated process, including exercising vested options
Our partners match and execute orders

Step 3

Close secondary compliantly

Approve closing of secondary including transaction documents
After all applicable costs have been deducted, funds are released to sellers from escrow account
Capdesk handles any required filings to authorities, such as stock transfer forms and stamp duty in the UK
All your company data is automatically updated, including cap table, shareholder register and share certificates

“Capdesk's feature set is comprehensive – it does everything we need it to, it's cleanly laid out and easy to use. Having everything stored in one place and easily accessible saves enormous time and gets everyone on the same page”

Oli Johnson, Founder

Catapult

“I spend about 25% of the time I used to on equity management, not just because Capdesk is easier and quicker, but because I know it’s up to date and reliable.”

Alex Rowe, Investor Relations Manager

gohenry

“It’s really easy to use and run round simulations, and export cap tables. There’s also good functionality for creating different vesting schedules for EMI etc.”

Joe Clarke, Financial Accountant

WeFarm

AS FEATURED IN:

“Seedrs and Capdesk create a joint initiative whereby any business listed on Capdesk can sell shares and adjust the cap table via Seedrs marketplace."

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“Seedrs has announced a strategically important partnership with Capdesk, an equity management platform that creates a more robust platform for investors and issuers to seamlessly manage their securities, to enable firms not crowdfunded on the Seedrs platform to participate in the marketplace."

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It's time for the
European equity evolution

Put your equity in motion with secondaries on Capdesk

Last year there were 407 IPOs in the US, and just 135 across the whole of Europe.

The solution lies in secondaries

Why Capdesk?