Capital markets automation startup Nivaura has raised a £9.4 million ($11m) funding round at a post-money valuation of GBP 25 million ($29.4m). The company recently partnered with Natwest for a bond issuance using the London Stock Exchange’s DCM FLow platform that is powered by Nivaura. Its technology involves smart legal documents, digital term sheets and the workflow to arrive at a deal.
Update: Nivaura says the $11m was the conversion of a previously issued convertible bond, but provided no additional details.
The Nivaura solution is often used in conjunction with blockchain. Earlier this year, Natwest and Nivaura were involved in a trial of the Fnality blockchain-based settlement platform backed by 16 institutions.
The latest funding is at a significantly reduced valuation of £7.66 per share compared to the 2019 funding by London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) at £18.78 and a valuation of £22.32 last year. As a result of the latest funding, which increased the number of shares in issue by more than 50%, founder Avtar Sehra’s stake dropped below 25%.
When the LSEG’s investment was revealed in 2019, a headline funding of $20 million was announced. However, at that stage, the stock exchange group invested just £2.5 million ($2.9m), and we believe it contributed £300,000 to a £3 million funding last year. Prior to the latest share issue, the LSEG held a stake of just over 7%.
For the year ending December 2020, Nivaura lost £4.6 million ($5.4m) based on revenues of almost £500,000 ($590k). The LSEG’s DCM Flow platform launched in 2021.
Nivaura’s latest funding has not yet been formally announced with the data based on statutory filings. The startup did not respond to our queries in time for publication. After publication we were told via its PR agency that this was a conversion into equity from a previously issued convertible bond.
