Agora Digital Debt Capital Markets
Creates the world's first truly end-to-end digital platform for the full life-cycle of bonds, from inception to redemption.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| investor | €0.0 | round | |
| investor investor | €0.0 | round | |
| N/A | £5.5m | Seed | |
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
| USD | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenues | 0000 | 0000 | 0000 | 0000 |
| % growth | - | 211 % | (87 %) | 53 % |
| EBITDA | 0000 | 0000 | 0000 | 0000 |
| % EBITDA margin | - | - | (2250 %) | (1319 %) |
| Profit | 0000 | 0000 | 0000 | 0000 |
| % profit margin | - | - | (2053 %) | (1343 %) |
| EV | 0000 | 0000 | 0000 | 0000 |
| EV / revenue | 00.0x | 00.0x | 00.0x | 00.0x |
| EV / EBITDA | 00.0x | 00.0x | 00.0x | 00.0x |
| R&D budget | 0000 | 0000 | 0000 | 0000 |
Source: Dealroom estimates, Company filings or news article
Related Content
Agora Digital Debt Capital Markets, founded in 2019 by Charlie Berman and Naveen Poonai, is developing a platform to modernize the debt capital markets through distributed ledger technology. The firm's leadership brings extensive experience from the traditional finance sector; Berman's background includes serving as the head of public sector for EMEA at Barclays and holding senior roles at Citigroup, while Poonai has a history in technology and operations at institutions like Credit Suisse and UBS. This confluence of capital markets expertise and technological proficiency underpins the company's strategic direction.
The company is creating a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform named Agora, which aims to provide an end-to-end digital solution for the entire lifecycle of bonds, from issuance to redemption. This platform is designed to serve a wide array of market participants, including issuers, investment banks, custodians, investors, and central securities depositories (CSDs). By leveraging DLT, Agora seeks to create a 'golden source of truth' for bond data, streamlining complex processes and fostering collaboration among stakeholders in a secure, shared environment. The business model appears to be centered on providing this platform to financial institutions to enhance efficiency and reduce operational friction in bond market operations.
Agora has achieved several significant milestones, demonstrating its capability and progress. In a notable early transaction, Agora's platform was utilized by the European Investment Bank (EIB) for a £50 million digitally native bond issuance, a project conducted within the FCA's regulatory sandbox and involving major financial institutions like HSBC and RBC Capital Markets. The firm has also been recognized for its potential, securing a place in the Investment Association's Engine FinTech accelerator program, which is backed by a consortium including the London Stock Exchange Group and Fidelity International. Through these developments, Agora is positioning itself to bring greater transparency and efficiency to the traditionally complex and paper-intensive bond market.
Keywords: debt capital markets, distributed ledger technology, bond issuance, fintech, SaaS platform, capital markets infrastructure, digital assets, fixed income, financial technology, smart contracts