• 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

Dublin, London, Tallinn, Zagreb, Singapore, 4th May 2023 – 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.

“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. 

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About Funderbeam

Funderbeam was founded in 2013 to solve the liquidity problem of angel and venture investments. Funderbeam holds investment firm licences in the UK, Estonia (covering EEA) and Singapore. In September 2019, Funderbeam became a Recognised Market Operator by MAS and can offer fully regulated exchange service worldwide. Funderbeam infrastructure is built to help investor networks, accelerators and other venture investors to manage their syndicated investments, post-investment flows and handle secondary transactions across borders.

About VentureWave

VentureWave is a venture private equity investment firm that focuses on entrepreneurial companies with high impact potential. VentureWave is a member of the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), and are the first Irish signatories of the IFC Principles for Impact Investing. Venture has 2 European and 1 US-based funds under management dedicated to impact investing with a global network of LPs including family offices, high net worth entrepreneurs and institutional investors.

About Vestiver

Vestiver connects impact-driven companies to institutional investors, venture capital firms, and family offices. The Vestiver platform helps founders to manage their venture stage fundraising process digitally and handle investor relations after securing funding. Vestivers’ solution is ready to enter the US market in 2024.