Platform Group Limited “Platform”, a capital markets financial
technology company, announced the closing of a $1.5 million seed
financing round. The round was led by MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund
(IAF), co-led by Blindspot Inc. and included other strategic and
professional investors.
The new funds will accelerate Platform’s ability to scale the
engineering, product, research and support teams for its foundational
product, Irwin, an investor relations software product designed to
empower public companies to intelligently target, monitor and interact
with global investors.
“As the sell-side continues to evolve, companies of all sizes are
finding it more difficult to access capital markets than ever before.
Our goal is to build solutions that help our clients adapt to this new
market structure and make more meaningful, targeted outreach to
potential investors directly and proactively,” says David Whyte, CEO and
Co-Founder at Platform. “The current method of connecting capital
seekers and allocators is opaque, antiquated, and manual. We are on a
mission to bring transparency and efficiency to the process.”
“Our view is that capital market participants, from investor relations
to investment banking to private equity, have not yet benefited from
many of the technologies and innovations that have been used to
accelerate other data- and sales-driven industries,” says Mark Fasken,
COO and Co-Founder at Platform. “As Irwin’s data, network and
infrastructure continues to grow, we see a clear path to providing a
winning solution for the entire ecosystem.”
Since its inception in 2017, Platform has focused on partnering with
small and mid-cap companies, which represent an underserved segment of
the market that is experiencing immense pressure as the investment
industry evolves. With a growing set of unique and proprietary data
sets, Irwin is able to provide its customers with insights to seamlessly
organize their investor relations function so that management teams can
focus on what they do best – building and growing their business.
“Platform exhibits all of the qualities that we look for in early-stage
companies, including a scalable product and founders with the grit and
domain expertise to execute on their growth plans. They have a huge
opportunity in front of them and it’s one that we understand well,” says
Craig Leonard, Investment Director at MaRS IAF. “It’s crucial that in
the face of structural and regulatory change in financial markets,
companies more actively and effectively engage with investors by
leveraging data and analytics.”
About Platform Group
Platform Group is a leading provider of
capital markets-focused financial technology with a mission to
seamlessly connect the world’s capital seekers and allocators to make
them more productive, innovative and successful. To learn more about
Platform Group and Irwin visit www.getirwin.com.
About MaRS IAF
The MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund (IAF) helps
build and strengthen Ontario-based businesses in the cleantech, ICT, and
life sciences & healthcare sectors. Funded by the Province of Ontario,
the IAF program is managed by MaRS and delivered through the Ontario
Network of Entrepreneurs. For more information and to apply, please
visit marsiaf.com.
About Blindspot Inc
Blindspot is comprised of a seasoned team of
investors and entrepreneurs. Each is committed to supporting and
developing meaningful innovation in technology with applications to
wealth management in North America. Together with founders,
entrepreneurs and financial services executives, Blindspot combines new
capabilities with expertise, capital and contacts to develop and propel
new products, platforms and partnerships, faster and further to meet the
new tests of customer experience in the spotlight of the digital age. To
learn more about Blindspot visit blindspotinc.ca.
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