A new trust aimed at Europe’s fast-growing fintech sector is looking to raise £100mln ahead of a float in London.
Augmentum Fintech PLC said the financial services sector is ‘ripe for disruption and disintermediation’ but, unlike other sectors such as retail and travel, this has yet to happen.
Europe is at the centre of this disruption due to a confluence of factors including regulation and sector "DNA", it added.
According to Neil England, the Trust’s chairman: “The substantial demand for post-seed venture capital funding in the European fintech market is being underserved and the company will be well positioned to capitalise on the best opportunities available in the market and deliver attractive long-term returns for investors.”
Investment trust RIT Capital Partners will invest £10mln and management a further £2.7mln.
Current investments
Augmentum currently has five investments in its portfolio: peer-to-peer lending platform Zopa; precious metals trading platform BullionVault; share trading platform interactive investor; crowdfunding platform Seedrs and family office platform SRL Global.
Shares in the float will be priced at £1 and listed on the premium section of the LSE with a maximum of £125mln to be raised in the float.
Currently, the portfolio is worth £33mln. Augmentum expects to invest any additional money raised within twelve months
