Dec 01, 2015
Bolsters Product and Go-to-Market Expansion for Electronic Trading Innovator
PRINCETON, NJ, December 1, 2015 – Edison Partners proudly announced an $8 million Series A financing of New York City-based Clearpool Group, the next-generation electronic trading software provider for institutional sell-side and professional trading firms. Edison’s investment will bolster continued product innovation and expansion of the company’s go-to-market capabilities.
During the last year, Clearpool Group has achieved greater than 50% growth and signed more than 40 new customers. Nearly 100 firms are now relying on its cloud-based software for greater control over execution, which are delivering significantly better results over incumbent trading systems. “The electronic trading landscape is mired with costly legacy systems, regulatory investigations and client distrust. Clearpool is exploiting these market trends through differentiated technology that gives traders unprecedented transparency and control over execution,” said Chris Sugden, Managing Partner at Edison Partners. “This is a talented team of industry experts with roots that run deep in electronic trading, understanding market structure, and delivering high levels of client service. We are excited to be partnering with Joe Wald again.”
This is the third Edison-backed financial technology business for Clearpool CEO Joe Wald, who was CEO and co-founder of EdgeTrade (4X Edison return 2008) and, subsequently, served as executive vice president at GAIN Capital (17X Edison return in 2014). “When contemplating growth equity financing, Edison’s experience and successful track record placed them at the top of our list,” said Joe Wald, CEO and co-founder of Clearpool Group. “Chris Sugden and the Edison team are intimate with our space and share a commitment to our vision. Edison’s go-to market expertise brings more than capital to help us accelerate growth.”
With this investment, Chris Sugden joins the company’s board of directors. Edison Director Network member Joe Mrak, FolioDynamix chairman and CEO, has also joined the board.
Clearpool Group marks the third investment for Edison’s latest fund, Edison Partners VIII. It is also the firm’s thirty-eighth investment by its Financial Technology practice. Notable exits include Edgetrade (NASDAQ: NITE), FolioDynamix (NASDAQ: ACTA), GAIN Capital (NYSE: GCAP), Liberty Tax (NASDAQ: TAX) and Princeton Financial. Current investments include: BFS Capital, Billtrust, Compliance Science, OptionsCity, Scivantage and Trader Tools.
About Clearpool Group
Founded in 2012 and based in New York, Clearpool Group, Inc. is a trading software and execution innovator for an evolving equity market microstructure and competitive landscape. Clearpool develops state-of-the-art electronic trading solutions and operates an independent agency broker-dealer. Clearpool Group’s clients are institutional broker-dealers and professional trading firms. www.clearpoolgroup.com
About Edison Partners
For 29 years, Edison Partners has been helping CEOs and their executive teams navigate the entrepreneurial journey and build successful companies. Through the unique combination of expansion capital and the Edison Edge platform, consisting of strategic advisory, the Edison Director Network, and executive education, Edison employs a holistic approach to nurturing invention and creating value for growth stage businesses ($5 to $20 million in revenue) in financial technology, healthcare IT, enterprise IT, and marketing software industries. Edison investment objectives also include: buyouts, recapitalizations, spinouts and secondary stock purchases.
Edison’s active portfolio has created aggregate market value exceeding $5 billion. Its long-tenured team, based in Princeton, NJ, McLean, VA, and Cleveland, OH, manages more than $1 billion in assets throughout the eastern United States.
