IEX informs on successful funding round in bid to become exchange. Funding is led by Spark Capital with participation from Bain Capital Ventures, Franklin Resources, Jim Clark, MassMutual Ventures and Steve Wynn
IEX, a rapidly growing equity trading venue dedicated to institutionalising fairness in the financial markets, completed a $75 million round of funding led by Spark Capital.
The round included broad participation from a cross-section of investors, including Bain Capital Ventures, MassMutual Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, and global investment manager Franklin Resources. Clevelan Capital Management and TDF Ventures, and entrepreneurs Jim Clark (Netscape) and Steve Wynn (Wynn Resorts) compiled the list of private investment participants.
The financing will be used to pursue registration as a US national exchange and to expore 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 prioritises the needs of traditional investors and issuer companies," said IEX Group Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Brad Katsuyama. "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 has tripled its daily trading volume, and in recent weeks, participant volume has exceeded 100 million shares per day.
Alex Finkelstein, Spark Capital General Partner, 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." said Katsuyama.
"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.
"We feel extremely fortunate to bring together such an unprecedented and unique group of investors who believe in a common vision - to build a stock exchange in the best interests of companies and investors," said Katsuyama.
