Our News

20 Nov 2023

In a sign that capital markets have improved in the second half of 2023 after a couple of years of decline, TGS has closed 4 transactions in the past 4 months, all discreetly behind our membership firewall. TGS now has more than 200 institutional investors onboard, mostly from the US, UK and EU, plus several new funds in the GCC. An increasing number of single family offices have also become active participants on our deals.

22 Feb 2023

TGS was delighted to be asked to participate in Travers Smith's 'Future of Fintech' event, with TGS CEO Simon Stewart, one of the panelists for the 'Funding and Investment' debate. The introductory remarks were made by Lord Holmes of Richmond, a key advocate of the sector. The event brought together over 200 leading fintech companies, investors, banks, advisors, plus the Bank of England and the FCA.

Fintech, market infrastructure, payments, crypto and everything in-between remains high on the political agenda – the legal and regulatory landscape is constantly changing, and the industry continues to innovate and revolutionise finance. All these topics were explored at this flagship summit with panels covering innovation in payments, investment and funding trends in fintech, and successes, challenges and predictions for the future of fintech.

26 Nov 2022

Article in The Independent by Chris Blackhurst, Nov 22 '22: 'The spirit of innovation is alive despite economic woe'...

On a wet, cold night in Barnes, London, more than 100 people are gathered in an upstairs room at the former Olympic recording studios. The Olympic is a wonderful building, now converted into an art cinema, members club and cafe. We’re in its new rooftop recording studio. There’s a bar, which is doing brisk business. We’re here for the 10th round of Silicon Pond, a not-for-profit networking event that sees business start-ups pitch for mentoring and funding.

It’s the brainchild of Simon Stewart, a former investment banker who lives locally. Stewart, whose day job is CEO of The Growth Stage, a regulated global digital marketplace that connects private growth stage companies with institutional investors, wanted to help budding entrepreneurs. Growth stage companies are those that have $10m+ (£8.3m) of revenues and are looking to raise $10m+. The ones here tonight are in the earlier, first stage.

Stewart had read somewhere that Richmond borough, in which Barnes sits, contains more registered start-ups than anywhere in the UK. It’s an affluent neighbourhood, housing many bankers, successful business types, lawyers, doctors and accountants – you get the picture. In the centre of Barnes there is Barnes Pond, and Stewart discovered that there are also plenty of techies, so he came up with the name Silicon Pond.

So far, more than 100 entrepreneurs have stepped up, taken the microphone, and in a presentation lasting three minutes followed by two or three questions, tried to sell themselves. Afterwards, once the evening’s line-up is complete, there is an opportunity for networking and conversations.

It’s a simple format – think a shorter version of Dragons’ Den and without the fearsome panel (Stewart calls his potential investors “swans”, in reference to the swans that grace Barnes Pond, “they’re friendlier than dragons”) – and it works. To date, says Stewart in his introductory remarks, the biggest investment has been £500,000. There’s been another of £250,000. The average is £10,000 to £20,000. The overall total invested is well into seven figures.

The most successful venture from the 10 sessions is probably SenseOn, a cyberthreat detection business that pitched at the original Silicon Pond evening and has gone on to secure the heavyweight backing of Fidelity. As important, though, is the expert guidance and tutoring on hand from the audience, especially for the youngsters starting out.

It is possible to see how the nebulous, and sometimes dreaded, initials ESG could be brought to life and make a genuine difference

Appealing, too, is the application of deliberate positive bias by Stewart as to who gets to make their appeals. Half those pitching are women – versus an industry rate that sees only 5 per cent of VC capital in the UK invested in start-ups run by women. Stewart proudly says that “more than half of the money raised at Silicon Pond has gone to female founders.”

Also, at least 20 per cent of those bidding for assistance are fledgling entrepreneurs who do not have access to privileged networks. Barnes is one of London’s most well off areas, but Stewart makes a point of casting his net wider, to those who can’t call upon connections. Four ex-prisoners, aided by the charity Key4Life, pitched at the last Silicon Pond. The next one, in February, will feature Ukrainian would-be entrepreneurs.

In all, 10 fledgling businesses are appearing before us this time They range from Tea Rebellion, a tea producer that partners with farmers, to print designer Barbeline, to YesColours, eco-friendly interior paints that use recyclable packaging, to urban electric transport provider Trilvee. The standout for me is Earnt, set up by local, Lauren Scott-Harris. Her concept grew out of a bunch of parents doing volunteering work at a primary school. In return, they were rewarded with vouchers to use at the Brown Dog pub next door.

Scott-Harris has taken that further, putting brands together with good causes, as she put it “to get things done”. It’s bringing a practical aspect to environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG). A trainer designer, say, can hold a one-off “drop” sale in one of its stores, for which aficionados will queue, sometimes through the night, to be the first to own the special pair of sneakers.

Or it can make them available to those who will do something worthwhile in exchange for the shoes. That way, everyone wins: the volunteer who has benefited others and possesses the must-have shoes; the shoe company that has made a useful contribution to society; and the charitable cause. Scott-Harris has moved on from the local pub to attract interest already from the likes of Soho House, the Glastonbury Festival and the River Cafe.

Scott-Harris really does impress, with an idea that appears so simple, yet transformative. Even in her allotted few minutes, it is perfectly possible to see how the nebulous, and sometimes dreaded, initials ESG could be brought to life and make a genuine difference.

Once the presentations are over, the 10 presenters mingle with the crowd. Business cards are exchanged, hands are shaken. They may lead to something concrete; they may not. But it gladdens the heart to report that against the backdrop of economic woe, at least in this corner of the capital the spirit of innovation and enterprise is very much alive and kicking.

21 Oct 2022

The Growth Stage (TGS) is pleased to announce that FGS Global has become a Strategic Partner, helping to boost the support we already provide to the global funding ecosystem through strategic communications advice and assistance.

Simon Stewart, CEO of TGS, said “Having recently worked alongside FGS on a successful £150M raise, I am delighted that they have become one of our Strategic Partners, and how this partnership will benefit the companies on our exchange in communicating with a global audience, including institutional investors”.
FGS Global (previously known as Finsbury, part owned by WPP) are leaders in all aspects of strategic and financial communications.

Amidst strong inflationary headwinds, capital markets remain volatile, with private company valuations having fallen significantly lower this year. However, the volume of new capital being invested in our space remains high, especially compared to pre-2021 levels and the listed markets. TGS has recently helped raised debt and equity for a number of companies, including Railsr and Yoti.

13th April 2022

TGS acted as joint book runner in the £150m listing of Financial Acquisition Corp (FINSAC) on the London Stock Exchange (ticker FINS). FINSAC press release here. The management team are widely regarded as leading figures in the global insurance indsutry. We look forward to working with FINSAC for further significant funding later this year. Sky News reported the deal.

24th January 2022

TGS is delighted to have been the sole placement agent in the successful €23m Series B round for Tekever - the leading drone-based maritime surveillance company, headquartered in Lisbon. Tekever's exciting press release is here. We look forward to working with the Tekever team on future connectivity with our global networks to help the company grow and complete further funding requirements. All our 140+ institutional investors have access to the company's latest info behind our membership firewall.

29th December 2021

2021 was a breakout year! It's just a year since The Growth Stage (TGS) got its FINRA license in December 2020, adding to the FCA authorisation two years previously. We’ve recently raised Series A, B, C, CLN, crossover and SPAC/PIPE rounds, with 2 of our companies listing on NASDAQ in Q4. TGS has helped 4 unicorns, with 3 raising more than 1 round each since the pandemic, proving the platform’s compelling model. Over 50 companies, from 12 countries are currently behind our membership firewall, discreetly looking to raise $1bn in the next 12 months. We were also delighted to have Steve Smith, Tommy Breen, Lisa Long and Andrea Malpas join our team. All the best for 2022.

26th October 2021

The Growth Stage (TGS) is pleased to announce London Stock Exchange has signed up as an exchange partner to the platform alongside other professional advisor firms, boosting the help we already give to the global funding ecosystem, on a digital marketplace connecting private companies with institutional investors. Simon Stewart, CEO of TGS, commenting on partnership, said “I am delighted to announce this exchange partnership with the London Stock Exchange today, and how it will benefit the companies on our platform who are looking to list in London.” TGS is a regulated funding platform, focused on raising primary capital for growth stage companies from over 125 global institutional investors. There are currently more than 50 growth stage companies on the platform who have raised, or are in the process of raising, $10m-$500m in Series A, B, C, CLN, crossover & SPAC/PIPE rounds. Private companies and institutional investors looking to join the TGS platform should email info@thegrowthstage.com for further information. There are no joining fees for private companies or institutional investors.

7th July 2021

We are delighted to announce our latest partnership with Capdesk alongside our 15 existing global Professional Advisors - offering preferred rates to all our Private Companies to digitise their cap tables and shareholder registers. In turn, we will offer Capdesk's companies the opportunity to raise growth stage funding with our 120+ global institutional investors, efficiently and discreetly behind our membership firewall.

28th May 2021

A press release has been issued by WeJo, one of our Private Companies, highlighting The Growth Stage as helping to raise them $100m in a PIPE (later revised to $125m with Microsoft's investment), working alongside Moelis for Virtuoso/WeJo - details here. We were delighted to help raise institutional capital for WeJo in 2020, discreetly behind our firewall, and again this year, as part of their SPAC/business combination with Virtuoso.

14th February 2021

We are excited to welcome ZRG Partners as our latest Professional Advisor, joining 14 existing firms offering global business and transaction services. ZRG's mission is to bring talented candidates who are leaders in their respective fields to ZRG's network of companies. ZRG have already made several key founder introductions to TGS and we look forward to working together in the future.

20th October 2020

Two Years Since Our Launch...

The names of all our 100+ Institutional Investors and Private Companies, remain discreetly behind our membership firewall - accessed only by our members. Our deals to date have only been announced by the Investors and Founders - we only message our members directly. 2020 has been a challenge for everybody on a personal level, but many digital marketplaces have accelerated - including ours.

Our global team (based in the US, UK, EU and Australia) and their experience (listed in chronological order of joining):

Simon Stewart - head of equity sales: Barclays, UBS, Merrill Lynch, Jefferies
Simon Acton - accountant & fund manager: Cazenove, Ulster Bank IM, RAB Capital, Nomura
Jennie Holloway - head of equity capital markets: Goldman Sachs, HSBC
Sam Bygott-Webb - fund manager & head of equity sales: UBS, Macquarie, SAC
Kenny Flaherty - fund manager: CARNEO, Deutsche Asset Management, M&G
Guru Ramakrishnan - head of global trading & ceo: Morgan Stanley, Old Lane, Meru Capital
Joerg Pruessmeier - venture, head of ecm: Cygnet Ventures, JP Morgan, Barclays, Merrill Lynch
Andrew Tapper - head of equity sales: UBS, JB Capital Markets
Del Huse - accountant & private equity: Arthur Andersen, Oakley Capital, Roycian
Mark Robinson - head of equity distribution: Citi, ING
Peter Herne - head of equity sales: UBS, Bank of America, Barclays
Ben Hill - barrister and private equity: RAB Capital, Ariel
Duncan Crawford - head of prime brokerage & cap intro: Societe Generale, Newedge, Fimat
Jeremy Wernert - head of Asian investment banking: JW Capital, Macquarie, Merrill Lynch, UBS
Fredrik Warneryd - head of Nordics: Credit Suisse, UBS, Kleinwort Benson
Alex Kiam - analyst & investor: Safar Partners

10th September 2020

We are now delighted to offer PitchBook’s leading private equity data, alongside our global Professional Advisors already on TGS, providing a summary for all companies sitting behind our membership firewall. This includes highlights of essential insights and data institutional investors need to make intelligent decisions, like deal history, investors, and key executives.

30th August 2020

We are thrilled to announce that APEX have joined as our latest Professional Advisor, offering a ground breaking, private markets specific, ESG Ratings, Benchmarking, Reporting and Advisory service for all TGS companies. A unique, end-to-end solution: rigorous methodology; accurate data capture; intuitive, time-efficient software; benchmarking against sectors, international standards, UN Sustainable Development Goals. ESG is becoming more important, with new EU Regulations in March 2021.

15th October 2019

We’re celebrating one year since we launched.

Like most entrepreneurs, we’ve felt every bump, but we’ve made some pretty stunning global progress. Thanks to everyone who has supported us:

Our Team based in USA, UK, Sweden, Germany & Spain
Our Institutional Investors managing >$12 trillion based in USA, UK, Germany, Hong Kong and Australia
Our growth stage Companies looking to raise >$1bn in the next 12 months on our exchange, based in USA, UK, Sweden, Germany, Japan, Australia and New Zealand
Our Professional Advisors: EY, Travers Smith, Acuris, Gallagher, Merrill DataSiteOne, Wilson Sonsoni Goodrich & Rosati, WorldFirst and WeWork

We are also delighted to announce that New York based Meru Capital invested in TGS last month, with its Founder/CEO Guru Ramakrishnan (ex CEO of Old Lane & Head of Global Equity Trading at Morgan Stanley) joining our board.

Some of our press highlights include:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sgjstewart_fintech-investment-venturefund...

Press Release: 25th February 2019

The Growth Stage – world’s first regulated platform for private companies seeking institutional investment - announces inaugural summit in Manchester

International summit series to be launched in partnership with 10 of the world’s leading professional advisers including EY and WeWork

26th February 2019: The Growth Stage - the world’s first and only regulated, membership only funding platform for institutional investors and growth-stage private companies, hosts the first in a series of international scale-up summits in Manchester. Launched in partnership with 10 of the world’s leading professional advisers, including EY and WeWork, the summit will provide an opportunity for private companies, who are in a scale-up phase, to discuss - with a leading panel - the issues affecting them currently. In addition to hearing insights relevant to the scale-up community, speakers will specifically address challenges surrounding funding for growth and finance and potential solutions offered by institutional investors supporting The Growth Stage.

The full body of professional advisers supporting the summit include Acuris Risk Intelligence, EY, Gallagher, Sage, Travers Smith, The&Partnership, WeWork, WorldFirst and WSGR. The international series of events kicks off on 26th February at WeWork’s Manchester city centre complex, and is structured around high-growth scale-up companies seeking Series A-Z funding. Following the Manchester event, the series will continue across Edinburgh, London, Dublin, Stockholm, Palo Alto and New York this year.

Currently, the UK is one of the leading OECD countries for high-growth businesses, but with media attention focused on early-stage start-ups, the significance of growth-stage scale-ups to the UK’s economy is largely ignored. A recent study from the ScaleUp Institute concluded that a 1% increase in the number of UK’s scale-ups would create an additional 238,000 jobs in the UK and would add £38bn in Gross Value Added (GVA) to the economy. However, many of these scale-up businesses have found it a real challenge to secure growth capital from traditional sources of funding.

The Growth Stage was launched in October 2018 as the world’s first funding platform for private growth companies to raise investment capital from regulated institutional investors. This syndicate provides access to $5tn of assets under management, including pension funds, retail funds, hedge funds through to sovereign wealth funds and regulated family offices. It is free for private companies to join and charges only 1% for successful fund raises.

The Rt Hon Margot James, the UK’s Digital Minister, commenting on The Growth Stage’s role in the UK’s scale-up community said today: “It is great to see The Growth Stage connecting investors and tech start-ups in the Northern Powerhouse of Manchester. The UK has a consistent track record of producing successful tech companies and attracting record levels of venture capital investment from across the world. But it is vital this upward trajectory is maintained as we work to make the UK the best place to start and grow a digital business.”

Jon Reddington, Partner at Travers Smith, said: “Travers Smith is looking forward to supporting this Summit Series with The Growth Stage around the UK’s regions, helping scale-up businesses navigate growth stage funding. We are proud to have been involved with the Growth Stage from the start to help it support exciting businesses and realise their ambitions.”

Mathieu Proust, General Manager WeWork UK & Ireland said, "Helping to drive our members' success is at the heart of what we do at WeWork – 45 percent of our member companies credit us with their accelerated growth. Partnering with The Growth Stage is therefore a natural fit for us as they look to support and help broaden the opportunities for local businesses. We're looking forward to welcoming them into our spaces for their summits; bringing plentiful opportunities for their community and for our members."

Simon Stewart, Co-Founder and CEO, The Growth Stage, said: “The UK’s scale-up system requires urgent appraisal and reform, institutional investors require confidential privileged company access to premium deal flow, and equally, the UK’s tier 1 high-growth businesses need to gain vital access to institutional investment and strategic, relevant counsel. A global platform enabling institutional investors and private growth companies to meet, and funds to be raised at low cost didn’t exist, and this is exactly why we have created The Growth Stage and subsequently the summit series. We hope that by reaching out to the regions, we will be able to partner Britain’s buoyant business landscape and institutional investors.”

Details of Summit

Where: WeWork, 1 St Peter's Square, Manchester, M2 3DE, UK

When: Tuesday 26th February 2019 from 5:30pm until 7.30pm

If you would like to attend the Manchester Summit please register here:

https://summitfundingyourfuturegrowth.splashthat.com/

About The Growth Stage:

Headquartered in London, The Growth Stage was founded in 2017 as the world’s first digital platform designed to meet the increasing demand for institutional investors globally to engage and invest in private growth stage companies. The Growth Stage enables primary and secondary equity and debt funding. The private companies that The Growth Stage is bringing to investors typically require at least $10 million in funding, for Series A-Z stages of development. Investee companies pay The Growth Stage one per cent of the value of the funds raised, which is highly competitive compared to the fees associated with alternative fund-raising channels. There is no charge for companies seeking investment to join the platform nor for institutional investors. The company is backed by a team of leading advisers, providing companies seeking funds with the professional services support they need to generate the required capital and take their companies to the next stage. The partner advisers are: Acuris Risk Intelligence, EY, Gallagher, Merrill DataSiteOne, Sage, The&Partnership, Travers Smith, WeWork, World First and WSGR.

Press Release: 15th October 2018

THE GROWTH STAGE LAUNCHES THE WORLD’S FIRST FUNDING PLATFORM BUILT TO MEET INSTITUTIONAL DEMAND TO INVEST IN PRIVATE GROWTH COMPANIES

The platform provides growth stage companies access to over $4tn of assets under management and 10 of the world’s leading professional advisory firms

UK based company challenges the established model with highly competitive fee: just 1 per cent of funds raised

Unique platform, exclusively for regulated institutional investors, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority

London, 15th October 2018. The Growth Stage launches today as the world’s first funding platform for private growth companies to raise investment capital from regulated institutional investors. The company has signed up investors with over $4tn of assets under management, from pension funds, retail funds, hedge funds through to sovereign wealth funds and family offices.

Headquartered in London, The Growth Stage has been designed exclusively to marry the increasing demand from institutional investors around the world, to invest in high growth, scale-up companies, and for those companies to seek alternative sources of capital.

Directly challenging the traditional model by removing the barriers to accessing alternative sources of financing, The Growth Stage has no joining fee for private companies or institutional investors, and charges only 1% of funds raised – a highly competitive rate compared to alternative approaches to fund raising.

Simon Stewart, Co-Founder and CEO, The Growth Stage, said: “Traditionally, it has been very costly and difficult for private growth companies to get access to institutional investors to help finance the next stage of their growth. Institutional investors don’t want to miss out on the opportunity to investin the leading private high-growth global companies of today and tomorrow. A global platform enabling institutional investors and private growth companies to meet, and funds to be raised at lowcost didn’t exist, and this is exactly why we have created The Growth Stage. After two years of developing the business with our institutional investors and professional advisors, we are delighted to launch The Growth Stage today.”

The Growth Stage has also partnered with 10 of the world’s leading professional advisers, offering its members essential global business services and deal transaction expertise. They are Acuris Risk Intelligence, EY, Gallagher, Merrill Corporation, Sage, The&Partnership, Travers Smith, WeWork, WorldFirst and WSGR.

Debbie O’Hanlon, Regional Markets Leader at EY, said: “The Growth Stage has built a meeting place for entrepreneurs, investors and advisers that is set to become the launch pad for some of the world’sbiggest brands. EY is committed to working with entrepreneurial and fast-growth companies and helpsensure that we are working with more of tomorrow’s global leaders.”

The Growth Stage is a unique platform, exclusively for institutional investors, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and has been designed for primary and secondary equity and debt investments.

“We’re looking to invest a greater proportion of our assets in private companies and The Growth Stage provides us with a great platform to invest in global businesses,” said a world-leading Institutional Investor.

The Growth Stage is focusing on scale-up rather than start-up situations, where private companies are looking to raise more than $10 million. The company is on track to see a number of funding rounds completed in its first quarter.

Margot James MP, the Minister for Digital and the Creative Industries, said: “The Growth Stage has developed a brilliant solution to match some of the world’s most exciting and high growth businessesto the long-term institutional capital and advisory network they need to fulfil their growth potential. The firm is exemplary of the innovation in finance and technology that the UK excels in and highlightsits central role in the global investment community.”

The Growth Stage was founded by experienced City investors, advisers and entrepreneurs Simon Stewart and Simon Acton. They have since been joined by Jennie Holloway, who recently left her position at Goldman Sachs, where she was head of the alternative equity capital markets division in London and led on private funding.

-Ends-

About The Growth Stage:

Headquartered in London, The Growth Stage was founded in 2017 as the world’s first digital platform designed to meet the increasing demand for institutional investors globally to invest in private, high-growth, scale-up companies, and for those companies to seek alternative sources of capital. The Growth Stage enables primary and secondary equity and debt funding. The private companies that The Growth Stage is bringing to investors typically require at least $10 million in funding, for Series A-Z stages of development. Investee companies pay The Growth Stage one per cent of the value of the funds raised, which is highly competitive compared to the fees associated with alternative fund-raising channels. There is no charge for companies seeking investment to join the platform nor for institutional investors. The company is backed by a team of leading advisers, providing companies seeking funds with the professional services support they need to generate the required capital and take their companies to the next stage. The partner advisers are: Acuris Risk Intelligence, EY, Gallagher, Merrill DataSiteOne, Sage, The&Partnership, Travers Smith, WeWork, World First and WSGR.

The management team:

Simon Stewart, Co-Founder, Director and CEO
Set up his first business as a Dublin schoolboy, earned a business degree, worked at a London advertising agency and then got institutionalised for 25 years – in stockbroking, mostly at BZW and UBS doing European Equity sales. But the dizzy heights of Managing Director and Head of Equity Sales couldn’t stop his desire to return to his early entrepreneurial yearnings. Founding Lexikin (the platform to record your assets, wishes, memories and legacies, in case of fire, theft or death) led to a new network of CEOs asking him for growth stage funding from his institutional clients. When those clients running trillions of dollars said ‘yes’, an efficient platform (The Growth Stage) connecting the two was born. He has a house full of start-ups, with Lexikin.com, his wife’s HonorBeach.com, a 12-year-old son in growth stage, and 9-year-old daughter still in early stage – some require funding.

Simon Acton, Co-Founder and Director
Simon qualified as an accountant in Dublin when the Celtic Tiger was a cub, did his Master’s degree in Scotland, then joined Ulster Bank in Dublin to manage long-only pension funds. He moved to Cazenove in London to manage retail and institutional long-only portfolios, followed by a long stint at a hedge fund running long-short European equities, and time prop-trading at a Japanese bank. Simon saw the light and decided to become an entrepreneur by helping companies grow and raise money. He realised, along with his co-founders, that private companies seeking growth capital needed a low cost and better funding alternative, and so The Growth Stage was created.

Jennie Holloway, Co-Founder
Through 15 years in investment banking, Jennie has advised companies and their shareholders on raising $20bn+ of private and public capital from the full spectrum of investors – VCs, institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds, pensions and family offices. Jennie has always been at the more entrepreneurial end of investment banking; she started Goldman Sachs’ European equity private placement business (raising private funding for private companies) and was a founding member of the alternative capital raising team. She felt the need to get out there and do something entrepreneurial for real and what better place than a disruptive platform helping entrepreneurs through their financing journey.

10 of the World’s leading Professional Advisers offer our members essential global business services and deal transaction expertise:

Acuris Risk Intelligence – Anti-Money Laundering, Third-Party Risk and Cyber Security Services
EY – Assurance, Advisory, Tax and Transaction Advisory Services
Gallagher – Insurance, Risk Management and Consulting
Merrill Corp – DataSiteOne data rooms for secure content sharing, regulated communications and disclosure services
Sage – integrated accounting, payroll, and payment systems
The&Partnership – marketing agencies combining creativity, technology and data, backed by WPP
Travers Smith – one of the UK’s leading corporate, financial and commercial law firms
WeWork – workspaces that transform buildings into dynamic environments
WorldFirst – award-winning experts in international payment solutions
WSGR – the premier US legal advisor to technology, life sciences and growth enterprises

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