Israeli peer-to-peer secondary market online trading platform Privatequity.biz has sold shares in Israeli taxi hailing and delivery app Gett. The shares in the Israeli unicorn (a startup worth more than $1 billion) were put up for sale by a senior employee of Gett and sold to an investor registered in London. No details regarding the value of the shares were disclosed.
Privatequity.biz founder and CEO Sigalit Cohen said, “The transaction for the sale of the Gett shares through a senior employee is a significant commercial milestone and it encapsulates the realization of the company’s business strategy to constitute a global arena for shareholders and for senior employees who hold significant portions of options and shares in private high-tech companies. These high-tech employees want to liquidate the shares in their possession and they have the ability to do so, through the platform, with private investors and with institutional investors who are looking to make investments in promising private high-tech companies from all around the world. The completion of the transaction demonstrates Privatequity.biz’s business potential.”
Private pre-IPO high-tech companies whose employees are offering shares on the platform include giant firms such as Chinese cell phone manufacturer Xiaomi, ride-sharing company Lyft, big data analysis company Palantir, and Israeli Internet company ironSource.
The platform was recognized in 2016 by Red Herring as one of the top 100 innovative companies in Europe.
Cohen added, "“For ordinary, small-scale private investors, the platform constitutes the only way to make a direct investment in private high-tech companies, which are in the technology forefront. The platform also constitutes an innovative tool for the company itself to retain its employees, while the employees are given the opportunity to liquidate their holdings and to receive cash."
Privatequity.biz has raised shares for sale worth about $20 million. About 2,000 private investors are registered on the platform from all around the world. The average shareholding in a private high-tech company, of any senior employee/high-tech employee, who is registered as a seller on the platform, is about $300,000.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 17, 2017
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