Buyside-owned Trading venue IEX is on the fundraising trail – raising $75 million to continue funding the alternative trading network’s quest to become a full-fledged exchange.
This latest round of funding was led by Spark Capital with participation from Bain Capital Ventures, Franklin Resources, Inc., Jim Clark, MassMutual Ventures and investor Steve Wynn.
Other participants in this round include private investment firms Cleveland Capital Management and TDF Ventures, and renowned visionaries and entrepreneur Jim Clark (Netscape). The financing will be used to pursue registration as a U.S. national exchange and to explore other opportunities to leverage IEX’s unique brand, capabilities and market position.
“Our intention from day one was to challenge the status quo by building a market that prioritizes the needs of traditional investors and issuer companies,” said Brad Katsuyma, IEX’s chief executive officer and co-founder. “We are encouraged by our recent growth, which has been driven by both investors and their brokers. This additional capital enables us to build and operate a world-class stock exchange.”
Since Q1 2014, IEX reported its average daily trading volume has climbed over 100 million shares.
Spark Capital General Partner Alex Finkelstein will join IEX Group’s Board of Directors as part of the financing. “The best way to truly improve the way that the financial markets work is by giving investors and brokers an opportunity to vote with their trades for a fairer marketplace,” said Finkelstein. “We believe in IEX’s vision of next-generation capital markets, and we’re confident that the IEX team will successfully change the way that Wall Street operates for the better.”
“We chose to partner with Spark Capital because, like IEX, they are a trust-based firm that is focused on the entrepreneur’s mission.” Katsuyama said. “From the very beginning, they showed a meaningful commitment to supporting our vision for the future of capital markets. Their history of helping companies such as Twitter and Wayfair accelerate the network effect of adoption has parallels to scaling a successful stock exchange.”
IEX Group’s consortium of institutional investors also includes The Capital Group, Brandes Investment Partners, Greenlight Capital, Senator Investment Group, Pershing Square Capital, Maverick Capital, Scoggin Capital Management, Belfer Management, Kistler Associates and Third Point Partners.
