Crowdcube, a top European investment crowdfunding platform, has hired a new Chief Technology Officer as the launch of its new Community IPO nears
According to a post on BusinessCloud, former CIO of Moneysupermarket David Halsey will help develop the tech stack at Crowdcube as the online investment platform expands its offerings and services.
Last month, Crowdcube discussed its newly launched trading platform for crowdfunded securities called Cubex as well as the Community IPO as its latest new products as they “scale to become the European marketplace for retail investment into private and public companies.” With the Community IPO, Crowdcube aims to offer retail investors the ability to participate in securities offerings across Europe – from startup to IPO alongside professional investors. The Community IPO is expected to launch later this year.
Halsey said he was delighted to join the Crowdcube team:
“What really appeals is the true product innovation that Crowdcube is bringing to retail investment – the idea that you sign up to one platform for an investing experience throughout a company’s lifecycle. I’m excited to bring my experience of building marketplaces to Crowdcube as it scales to become the European marketplace for investment in companies from startup to IPO.”
Darren Westlake, Crowdcube co-founder and CEO, said they are building the European marketplace for retail investment into private and public companies and need the best talent to execute on this mission.
“This is where David comes in. With his wealth of experience in building and scaling marketplaces at Moneysupermarket and eBay, we’re incredibly excited to welcome him to the team.”
Crowdcube’s strategy of adding new services while expanding markets is a goal of many successful securities crowdfunding platforms. Once developed, the tech stack powering online capital formation and secondary trading may be ported into other markets.
Later this year, new rules will improve the investment crowdfunding market in the European Union where issuers will be able to raise up to €5 million across all member states. Crowdcube has long operated in the EU and they are sizing up this opportunity as it looks to build out its growing investment platform.
Crowdcube, along with Seedrs, hit a speed bump earlier this year when the UK Competitions and Markets Authority put the kibosh on a proposed merger. If the merger had been approved, the combined entity would have been better positioned to compete with the likes of VCs and the plethora of online capital formation platforms that operate in Europe as well as globally. Crowdcube must now go it alone and the addition of Halsey, along with Cubex and the Community IPO should help the company compete in the highly competitive market.
