LONDON, Nov. 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Nodem Capital, a new secondaries firm which aims to meet the acute need across Next Wave markets for a creative liquidity provider, has officially launched.
The firm will offer secondary liquidity to the holders of venture capital-backed assets in markets that include Emerging Europe, Turkey, Latin America, Southeast Asia and India. These Next Wave markets are defined as the world minus the 10 ‘legacy’ advanced economies such as North America and Western Europe.
Nodem will specialise in offering partial liquidity (through preferred equity investments) to ‘non-sellers’ who want to maintain exposure and control but accelerate liquidity for distributions or growth.
Nodem is well into the process of seeking FCA authorisation. All investment activities will commence once regulatory approvals are granted. Initial investor capital is in place, and the anticipated timeline is for investments to start in Q1 of 2025.
In January 2025, Nodem will host a launch event and kick off monthly online panel discussions with leading Next Wave investors.
Nodem was founded by Alex Branton, a former senior member of the private equity and venture capital teams at Sturgeon Capital. Sturgeon is an emerging markets investment firm with assets over $300 million, and investors include Chevron, the IFC and SBI.
Before Sturgeon, Alex was also an investor at Cambridge Associates, advising some of the world’s most sophisticated institutions.
Alex said: “Having spent my career as both a General Partner and Limited Partner in emerging markets, I feel uniquely qualified to solve the liquidity needs of our stakeholders.
“We’re building a firm that investors can rely on for speedy solutions tailored to the specific needs of LPs and GPs active in our markets.”
Pitchbook data suggest that from a near non-existent base in 2011-12, there has been a rapid build-up in capital raised by venture capital funds across Next Wave markets, peaking in 2021 when nearly $57bn was raised. The explosion in capital raising from 2019-21 was fuelled by earlier successes in the US/China and major early mobile internet successes by Next Wave VCs.
Whilst these early fund vintages are rapidly maturing, widescale exits continue to be pushed back – with up to 20/ times as many companies now being financed by VCs versus exited.
Alex added: “Many investors are now seeking, and struggling to find, liquidity solutions for their Next Wave holdings, resulting in LPs being reluctant to commit to new funds until value is released from earlier vintages.
“Nodem is launching ahead of an expected ten-fold increase in the investable universe, which is defined as the value of assets held in venture capital funds older than 10 years old, to around $130bn. This presents us with a clear opportunity to serve clients in these markets.”
For more information about Nodem Capital, visit nodem.com.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/178ed306-396d-4a71-abc5-b798ee2b4a75