Moneybox becomes Europe's newest unicorn, tests new London market

Wealthtech scaleup Moneybox has reached unicorn valuation at $1.1 billion, coinciding with preparations for a £45 million secondary share sale for its long-serving employees. The sale will facilitate liquidity for staff while testing a new segment of the UK capital markets.

The secondary share sale will be conducted via the London Stock Exchange Group's (LSEG) Private Securities Market (PSM). This new platform is designed for private companies to auction their shares, developed under the UK government's Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (Pisces) framework. Employees will sell their shares through the private markets investment platform Crowdcube before the auction on LSEG's PSM.

Co-founder Ben Stanway stated that Pisces represents an important innovation for UK capital markets. He added that Moneybox is proud to be among the first companies demonstrating how the platform can support ambitious private businesses. LSEG has previously sought to attract UK fintechs, like Revolut and OakNorth, to its market to retain domestic companies after a period of underperforming IPOs and overseas listings.

The PSM market launched in February, with the first transaction in March. Autonomous vehicle scaleup Wayve also recently auctioned shares on PSM. Moneybox's move highlights the growing interest in alternative trading venues for private companies seeking employee liquidity and indicates continued momentum in the fintech sector.

This development underscores the ongoing efforts to create more avenues for private companies to provide value to their employees and demonstrates Moneybox's successful growth trajectory.