VentureWave, an Irish-based venture private equity group, has led a €36M investment in Funderbeam, an Estonian angel investing and trading platform.
The investment will enable VentureWave to take a 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.
Broadening investment horizons
Funderbeam was founded in 2013 to solve the liquidity problem of angel and venture investments. Funderbeam’s infrastructure is built to help investors manage syndicated investments, post-investment flows, and secondary transactions across borders. With a strong impact methodology and appraisal process, it aims to democratize investments in startups and enable exits when needed.
Following the deal, 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.
“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.
Kaidi Ruusalepp
Ruusalepp, who is also serving as a president of Estonian Founders Society, has recently appeared on the front page of Spring 2023 Life in Estonia magazine advocating for equal opportunities for female founders. “We have all these companies with international reach, but we are underfunded compared to male founders. 90%+ of the venture capital is managed by men, and they invest in similar founders,” — she said at the time.
Game-changer for the industry
“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.
“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.
Funderbeam will continue to serve investor networks and provide private market as a service for private investor networks. 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.
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