Invesdor is celebrating the “first” European company to provide an exit by IPO as shares trade on Nasdaq First North Helsinki (ISIN FI4000127527) . Heeros Oyj raised €3.4m from 700 retail investors with its IPO on the Invesdor crowdfunding platform. that took place this past October.
In late 2015 Heeros raised €660,000 in an equity crowdfunding round on Invesdor, a cross-border platform that also hosted the IPO. This first crowdfunding round brought Heeros close to 200 new shareholders, most of them retail investors. Heeros’s shares were priced at €3.10 in the IPO, up €0.40 from the 2015 crowdfunding campaign. The pricing of the IPO valued the company at approximately €10.5 million.
Heeros CEO Matti Lattu said he was pleased with the results of the IPO.
“Both retail and institutional investors have understood our growth potential in the digitizing market of financial management software. I want to thank all our investors for their trust.”
Invesdor CEO Lasse Mäkelä said that equity crowdfunding needed to prove it could generate exits for an investor.
“…this is the only way the industry can sustain its growth,” said Mäkelä. “While growth companies are generally long term investments, having the possibility to exit is crucial for investors’ confidence in the system.”
Globally there has been an ongoing discussion regarding investor returns for early stage companies that raise capital online. While still in its infancy, the data revealed to date has been very encouraging. For Invesdor,iIn addition to providing exits by IPOs, crowdfunding platforms are moving closer to the public markets by providing technology for public equity issues. As the line between public and private blur further it will be agile companies that can adopt and adjust quickly that will lead the way.
“Crowdfunding platforms can be convenient tools for IPOs due to their efficiency in reaching retail investors and processing share subscriptions. If I was planning an IPO, I would consider using crowdfunding platforms as cost-efficient distribution channels,” Mäkelä says.
Invesdor was launched in Finland in 2012 and has expanded operations across the Nordic region and opened an office in the UK.
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