Proxymity, a UK-based investor communications platform spun out of financial services firm Citi, has secured $20.5m in funding from investors including its founding shareholder.
Citi was joined by fellow financial services firms Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, BNY Mellon, along with Clearstream – a central securities depository unit of stock exchange operator Deutsche Börse – share registry company Computershare and asset manager State Street Advisors.
Proxymity has created an electronic shareholder communication platform where companies can arrange disclosures and proxy votes for their shareholders while automatically verifying their identity through industry-compliant documents.
The software is currently available in five European countries as well as Australia, and is pitched as a valuable remote working tool during Covid-19.
The funding will go to enhancing Proxymity’s offering to reach more clients and target additional markets including more countries in the EU, which has updated its shareholder rights directive in a bid to strengthen corporate governance.
Proxymity was co-founded by Dean Little, previously an innovation-focused director at Citi, and Jonathan Smalley, who was Citi’s vice-president for asset servicing-related product development.
The pair will act as Proxymity’s chief executive and chief operating officer respectively.
Emily Turner, head of innovation and business development at Citi’s institutional clients group, said: “Proxymity exemplifies the power of innovation that comes from within a global institution like Citi and the pace at which we can drive change at scale.
“Because of Dean and Jon’s deep expertise and understanding of the problems issuers and investors face, Citi immediately saw the potential for Proxymity and we were excited to support the development of this platform.”