AIM Creates Method for UK Early Stage Investors to Cash Out
One of the biggest issue that early stage investors moan about is how long they will have to wait to get any money back….typically 10 years plus, assuming they do well. As companies stay private globally longer and longer then early stage investors have to wait longer and longer…I wrote about this recently:
Well AIM has recently listed Freeagent, this is a startup who is doing ok…ok being a relative term in VC world, they are growing at 30% per annum. Probably not fast enough growth for many VC’s, but none the less a nice growing company. The company wanted more cash to grow faster and have risen £10 million on AIM. There are 2 interesting parts about this:
- By listing on AIM they have allowed many more investors and investor types to back the company.
- But the real interesting part is that they have now allowed early stage investors to be able to trade shares in what would have been a private company. Hence creating a sort of liquidity event
Cheers to Robin for pointing this out:
freeagent-ipo-a-sign-of-things-to-come
Doug