Crowdcube continues Europe expansion with acquisition of Semper

Crowdfunding platform Crowdcube has acquired secondary liquidity platform Semper for an undisclosed fee.

Launched in 2021, Semper offers European start-up founders, angel investors and other early shareholders liquidity by opening up private markets to retail investors.

Semper founders, Mathias Pastor and Balthazar de Lavergne will continue to lead the secondary business in close collaboration with Crowdcube’s co-CEOs, Bill Simmons and Matt Cooper.

It has provided c.€10m in secondary sales for European start-ups including Kry (Swedish online healthcare benefits company), Mano Mano (French DIY marketplace) and Voodoo (French mobile games developer). 

“The potential to create the largest private market investment platform in Europe is vast, and we are just getting started. Our acquisition of Semper positions us favourably to capitalise on all of the interest and momentum in and around the private markets at the moment,” Bill Simmons, Co-CEO of Crowdcube said.

“We started Semper to help iconic companies attract and retain top talent by making equity more tangible. We’ve built the infrastructure and networks across Europe for companies to offer liquidity to their team members and early investors; we’re now excited to expand on those foundations by partnering with Crowdcube, Balthazar de Lavergne, co-founder of Semper, said.

Crowdcube already has a secondaries business and over the past 18 months has facilitated £20m of secondary share sales on behalf of companies, including Freetrade, Sun God and Marine Power Systems.