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PrimaryBid

Connecting companies to their community on public offerings

101-200 employees
  • Fintech
  • B2B
  • Marketplace
  • Investing
80 Victoria St, London SW1E 5JL

Company mission

PrimaryBid's mission is to enhance fairness, inclusivity and transparency in capital markets.

Top investors

58% employee growth in 12 months

Otta's take

Theo Margolius headshot

Theo Margolius

COO of Otta

Individual investors face a number of challenges when accessing markets. The majority of these problems stem from issues of scale. How can individual investors compete for influence and ensure they get a seat at the table when their counterparts are large investment firms?

Furthermore, individual investment can incur personal costs unless it is being done on a very large scale, presenting barriers to investment straightaway.

PrimaryBid solves this problem using technology that we take for granted today but would not have been available just ten years ago. Investors move through PrimaryBid in order to make personal decisions in where their money goes, but are represented at the aggregate level, meaning they maintain influence. This also means firms are held accountable, encouraging good governance.

This model has already attracted significant investment, and PrimaryBid have raised almost fifty million pounds already. Their impact has already been felt in the City, with over fifty companies appointing individual shareholders to their boards.

Benefits

  • Pension scheme - 5% employer contribution
  • Life Assurance of 4x base salary
  • 25 days annual leave increasing to 30 with length of service
  • Carryover 5 days of annual leave per year
  • Day off on your Birthday
  • Work abroad for up to 45 days per tax year
  • 1 paid Community Day per year
  • Private Medical Insurance + health cash plan
  • Bi-monthly wellbeing sessions provided by Luminate
  • Access to Gympass as well as corporate gym rates at local facilities
  • Cycle to Work scheme
  • Maternity pay (16 weeks full pay, 23 weeks statutory) increasing with length of service
  • Paternity pay (2 weeks full pay) increasing with length of service
  • Salary sacrifice nursery fees via TEDs Premier (children up to 5 years old)
  • Paid time off for family planning - applicable for primary and secondary carers
  • Paid time off for pregnancy loss - applicable for primary and secondary carers
  • Learning budget of £500 per calendar year to be used on the Learnerbly platform
  • Company Townhalls, networks & annual Christmas Party

Company values

  • Fairness - Individual shareholders should have the same opportunities as institutional investors
  • Inclusivity - PrimaryBid is open access; anyone with a verified account can participate
  • Transparency - Allocations are made on clear rules and applied equally across investors

Funding (last 2 of 5 rounds)

Feb 2022

$190m

SERIES C

Oct 2020

$50m

SERIES B

$252m

Total funding

This company has top investors

Founders

Previously worked in the Investment Banking sector for Bank of America Securities and Credit Suisse and was later co-founder and CEO of Darwin Strategic Limited

Previously worked in the Equity Sales division at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, was Founding employee of Evolution Securities, worked in Equity Sales at Numis Securities and was then Head of Midcap Equities and later Director at J.P. Morgan

Previously Co-founder and CEO at Doc Com Design, Executive at Ernst & Young, Investment Banking Associate at Citi and Chief Financial Officer at Darwin Strategic Limited

Salil Pandit

(Chief Product Officer)

Salil has more than a decade of experience in Silicon Valley at startups and Alphabet (Google, YouTube, and Waymo). He joined PrimaryBid as a Chief Product Officer shaping the future of PrimaryBid.

Endorsements

All

Challenging work (5)

Opportunities to learn (5)

Supportive management (3)

Inspiring mission (3)

Tech & tools (2)

Autonomy (2)

Meaningful work (2)

Intelligent people (2)

Flexible working (2)

Team energy (2)

A mission-driven company that is reflected through it's culture to help level the playing field for investment in IPO's. Every day you are solving yet another problem to democratise access to public offerings.

Product

Meaningful work

Oct 2022

My colleagues at PrimaryBid are people I learn from every day. There is a mix of individuals from diverse backgrounds with diverse skill sets which provides an enriching, intellectual and fast working environment.

Product

Intelligent people

Oct 2022

Throughout my first year my line manager and their line manager has been extremely supporting in my own learning and development, supporting me as an individual to do my best work and giving me flexibility in deciding my career path internally.

Product

Supportive management

Oct 2022

Due to being a scaling up, there are all sorts of growth inducing opportunities and challenges. This includes: - Ensuring the whole system is robust and internationally scaleable - Facilitating multiple regions with different requirements - Catering for a whole range of stakeholders

Software Engineering

Opportunities to learn

Oct 2022

PrimaryBid strives to bring investment opportunities to everyday people who never had them before. We work to create a fair platform that facilitates everyone equally.

Software Engineering

Inspiring mission

Oct 2022

At PrimaryBid, you'll find: - The latest technologies - High testing standards - A good balance of process / getting things done - A relentless attitude of continuous improvement which is behind constant growth

Software Engineering

Tech & tools

Oct 2022

My PrimaryBid experience has been a learning journey; over the last six months, I've had deep dives into financial regulation, capital market, product excellence, etc. Each day over the past six months has come with an opportunity to learn something new. It's been a fantastic experience.

Product

Opportunities to learn

Oct 2022

Solving problems is at the core of PrimaryBid's DNA. Once I completed my onboarding, I got just one assignment - to identify the issues within my Product lines, and define the paths to solving these problems. It's exciting to have such autonomy!

Product

Autonomy

Oct 2022

It is exciting to be a part of the team building the product ecosystem to support increased retail participation in public markets. Our work is making the public markets more inclusive, transparent and fair.

Product

Innovative product

Oct 2022

The onboarding process was super communicative and considered. Everything was taken care of and my questions were answered timely. This meant I was ready to go from day 1!

Operations & Strategy

Thoughtful onboarding

Oct 2022

It's an autonomous working culture - I am entrusted to manage my own workload. You're expected to surge to support on areas when needed. Strong communication principles are instilled from day one with your line manager but you pretty much manage yourself day to day.

Operations & Strategy

Flexible working

Oct 2022

There is a culture of optimism and opportunity within PrimaryBid. Despite many typical measures of success within the business still a guiding northern star, you work alongside many talented smart folk who genuinely want to make a positive impact. PrimaryBid is as laid back as it is driven and focussed. There is a diverse mix of experience and skills which makes the day to day work interesting. The trajectory for growth is also something that you are frequently reminded of and is often at the forefront of many business initiatives.

Operations & Strategy

Inspiring mission

Oct 2022

My time at PrimaryBid has been really rewarding due to working with some of the latest tech including limited to NodeJS (microservices), React (NextJS), TypeScript, Kubernetes, and more. The teams are also split up by business domain as well which gives you ownership over the entire stack.

Other Engineering

Tech & tools

Oct 2022

When changing jobs I had the opportunity to speak to numerous companies enabling me to benchmark PrimaryBid's offer. The overall package was very competitive when compared to other offers I received.

Other Engineering

Fair compensation

Oct 2022

PrimaryBid is a fast-paced environment full of talented people solving challenging problems. Personally, I have been here 6 months so far and my workload has been both varied and rewarding.

Other Engineering

Challenging work

Oct 2022

With a great learning and development platform we can take all sorts of courses all year round and don't have to use our own time to do it. There is great encouragement from management down to get training in anything that will help us do our jobs and also progress.

People, HR, Recruitment

Opportunities to learn

Oct 2022

People are what make a company the place to work that it is. There are lots of different personalities and cultures and everyone is really friendly and helpful.

People, HR, Recruitment

Nice people

Oct 2022

We have regular awards for people who go above and beyond in their work. People also send shout outs to those who have done a good job on a project which shows their appreciation - a very nice touch!

People, HR, Recruitment

Great work is recognised

Oct 2022

The projects I have worked on are challenging but very interesting and I am learning more about tech stacks. The team I worked on have a great attitude and the work is challenging bit we are fully supported.

Other Engineering

Challenging work

Oct 2022

Primarybid provides many opportunities for learning with very skilled and empathetic co-workers. They have helped me a great deal ands my manager is very supportive and helps me assess the different opportunities at the company.

Other Engineering

Opportunities to learn

Oct 2022

This is very apparent in the leadership structure. Whilst I am no expert on the different teams, my manager provides an honest assessment of my skills and sees potential in me where I don't see it myself. The company also has meetings where we are told the status of the company and I really appreciate the honesty.

Other Engineering

Open and honest communication

Oct 2022

As a company, we are going from strength to strength. We have gone through break-neck growth over the last few years, and have a roadmap to continue scaling at pace in the years to come. It feels like a really good time to join the business.

Data

Growing fast

Oct 2022

The company has a great community feel, with a vibrant social scene and a highly collaborative culture. People are all working towards the same goal, and people are willing to pivot to help each other at the drop of a hat.

Data

Team energy

Oct 2022

Democratising capital fundraising brings the 'public' to 'public markets'. This opening up of private markets to retail investors is long overdue, and it is exciting to be working in an area that helps give everyday investors access to markets that previously have just been available to the ultra-rich and to private companies.

Data

Inspiring mission

Oct 2022

I thoroughly enjoy the autonomy I get in my role. It has enable me to be more creative in the projects I have lead and worked on! From working in a stand alone role to having a team of 4 people globally in a span of 14 months, is something I'm truly grateful for!

People, HR, Recruitment

Autonomy

Oct 2022

The flexible working offered has really allowed me to balance my hectic life as a mum. I tend to work some odd hours in order to manage my routine at home and PrimaryBid makes that possible for me!

People, HR, Recruitment

Flexible working

Oct 2022

Lastly, most importantly to be a part of the story of a ground breaking product focussing on fairness and inclusivity with a global outreach is something makes me get out of bed everyday!

People, HR, Recruitment

Innovative product

Oct 2022

PrimaryBid seems to welcome anyone, no matter their ethic/cultural background. We have a very diverse group of individuals here who come together really well to work as one team.

People, HR, Recruitment

People of all backgrounds are welcomed

Jul 2022

PrimaryBid is big on diverse hiring and like to make sure everyone is included. We do a number of things to increase & retain diverse talent within PrimaryBid, such as using diverse hiring platforms, having a great list of inclusive benefits, LGBTQ/Women's groups and more.

People, HR, Recruitment

Diversity is a priority

Jul 2022

Since joining PrimaryBid I have worked with my team/manager to create measurable targets which will allow me to progress. We have a really good internal levelling system that is a solid framework for moving up within the company & progressing personally. Alongside this there are plenty of learning & development opportunities with PB.

People, HR, Recruitment

Career progression

Jul 2022

I find that whatever you want to get involved with at PrimaryBid, there’s probably a way to do it - I’ve never juggled so much nor worn so many hats in a single day but that means that no day is ever the same or ever boring.

Product

Opportunities to learn

Jun 2021

I truly believe that what we’re doing is building a meaningful product that’s changing the financial landscape forever.

Product

Meaningful work

Jun 2021

My manager is genuinely one of my favourite people I've ever met - so supportive and encouraging and also actively cares about the individuals in our team.

Product

Supportive management

Jun 2021

PrimaryBid is one of the most exciting tech companies I have worked for due to the sheer magnitude of the problem space we are operating in. Whether its building the world first integrated IPO product for Deliveroo or smart integrations (Oauth) for customer offers there is a lot to challenge yourself with.

Product

Challenging work

Jun 2021

PrimaryBid has a "can do" attitude that stems from a culture of autonomy, integrity and natural curiosity. All of these values are underpinned by having smart colleagues who you can trust.

Product

Intelligent people

Jun 2021

Fired up, ready to go.

Product

Team energy

Jun 2021

Building customer-facing, scalable products from scratch is a very rewarding and interesting experience that comes with its own challenges.

Product

Challenging work

May 2021

Senior management takes time to listen to your needs, both long and short term. That includes personal life and career progression, tailored to individual needs.

Product

Supportive management

May 2021

Compensation is competitive compared to market rates and there are several performance-based rewards which further contribute to the overall package.

Product

Fair compensation

May 2021

PrimaryBid is the one of the most dynamic firm I have worked at in almost twenty years in financial services, we are constantly changing, growing, and delivering new functionality to support the issuers who choose to engage with the retail community. Having spent the best part of a decade in fintechs, PrimaryBid stands out because of the positive can-do attitude of the strong team we have, which is why we are continuing to succeed. Having been here from a company of 6 people to a team 90+ I feel proud to be able to say I have helped the firm grow into where we are today, PrimaryBid has allowed me to get involved in areas above and beyond my role and I continue to be pushed and broaden my knowledge daily.

Operations & Strategy

Challenging work

May 2021

PrimaryBid is the one of the most dynamic firm I have worked at in almost twenty years in financial services, we are constantly changing, growing, and delivering new functionality to support the issuers who choose to engage with the retail community. Having spent the best part of a decade in fintechs, PrimaryBid stands out because of the positive can-do attitude of the strong team we have, which is why we are continuing to succeed. Having been here from a company of 6 people to a team 90+ I feel proud to be able to say I have helped the firm grow into where we are today, PrimaryBid has allowed me to get involved in areas above and beyond my role and I continue to be pushed and broaden my knowledge daily.

Operations & Strategy

Flat hierarchy

May 2021

PrimaryBid is the one of the most dynamic firm I have worked at in almost twenty years in financial services, we are constantly changing, growing, and delivering new functionality to support the issuers who choose to engage with the retail community. Having spent the best part of a decade in fintechs, PrimaryBid stands out because of the positive can-do attitude of the strong team we have, which is why we are continuing to succeed. Having been here from a company of 6 people to a team 90+ I feel proud to be able to say I have helped the firm grow into where we are today, PrimaryBid has allowed me to get involved in areas above and beyond my role and I continue to be pushed and broaden my knowledge daily.

Operations & Strategy

Strong leadership

May 2021

Jobs (2)

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Software Engineering

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