Republic (fintech)

Republic is an investment platform headquartered in New York City that allows individuals to invest in startups,[4] growth-stage pre-IPO companies, real estate, video games, and crypto companies (despite the crackdown on fraudulent initial coin offerings in 2018).[5]

Republic
TypePrivate
IndustryOnline fundraising, financial services
Founded2016
FounderKendrick Nguyen, Peter Green, Paul Menchov[1][2][3]
Headquarters
New York City

Overview

Republic was founded by Kendrick Nguyen, Paul Menchov and Peter Green in 2016 as a spin-off from AngelList.[6][7] By July 2021, the company had deployed over $500 million in investments.[8][9]

In November 2020, Republic launched the Republic Cities program in Dallas to fundraise for companies in Dallas from the local community.[10]

In 2021, Everyrealm (at the time, Republic Realm), formerly a metaverse real estate investment channel of Republic, purchased a parcel of virtual land in Decentraland for close to one million US dollars.[11] The lot has turned into a virtual shopping district and houses JPMorgan's lounge.[12]

Republic has its own profit-sharing digital security token, the Republic Note, but has not minted the tokens or made any new developments since launching.[13][14][15]

In October 2021, Republic announced a $150M Series B round led by Valor Equity Partners.[16]

Republic Capital, its venture arm, has invested in companies including Carta, Dapper Labs, Klarna, Kraken, Pipe, and Plaid.

Acquisitions

In June 2019, Republic acquired SheWorx, a company that helps female entrepreneurs raise capital.[17] Lisa Wang – the founder – subsequently left Republic.[18]

In April 2020, Republic acquired Fig, a video game crowdfunding platform.[19][20] The first offering from Fig that was co-hosted by Republic was that of Intellivision Amico. Despite its fundraising success – to the tune of $39 million across multiple campaigns (including one on competitor site StartEngine) – it has faced multiple delays and remained in development until July 2022.[21][22][23]

In June 2020, Republic made an acqui-hire for Compound, a real estate investment platform to create Republic Realm.[24] However, the division later spun off and rebranded as Everyrealm.[25] In October 2022, a sexual harassment and racial discrimination lawsuit was filed against Everyrealm and Republic.[26]

In November 2020, Republic acquired certain assets of NextSeed, a local crowdfunding platform.[27]

In December 2021, Republic entered into an agreement to acquire British equity crowdfunding business Seedrs for $100 million in an effort to expand to Europe.[1][2][28] This acquisition faced pushback from regulatory bodies and the Seedrs investor base, citing preferential treatment given to large shareholders.[29]

References
  1. Butcher, Mike (December 1, 2021). "Republic acquires the UK's Seedrs in $100M deal to push into Europe". TechCrunch. TechCrunch. Archived from the original on May 31, 2022. Retrieved May 31, 2022. Kendrick Nguyen, Republic's founder, said: "We knew international expansion was necessary to achieve cross-bordered participation [...]"
  2. Thomas, Daniel. "Seedrs bought by US group after merger of UK rivals was blocked". Financial Times. Financial Times. Archived from the original on December 2, 2021. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
  3. Megaw, Nicholas (August 16, 2021). "A progress report on fintech's record-breaking year". Financial Times. Financial Times. Archived from the original on August 17, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  4. Gallagher, Jacob (May 3, 2021). "Investment Crowdfunding: Is Buying $100 in Equity in Your Favorite Shoe Brand Worth It?". Wall Street Journal. Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on April 14, 2022. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
  5. Geron, Tomio (April 16, 2018). "New Wave of Firms Race to Capitalize on ICO Gold Rush". Wall Street Journal. Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on April 17, 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2022. Despite a potential crackdown on U.S. offerings, many upstart crypto-trading platforms are barreling into uncharted territory
  6. TV Anchors. "How Crypto Will Impact Start-Up Financing". Cheddar (TV channel). Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  7. Crain, Brian Fabian; Couture, Sébastien. "Episode 353 - Republic – Bridging the Gap Between Investing and Startups". Epicenter TV.
  8. JD Alois (July 28, 2021). "Republic Celebrates 5 Year Anniversary, $500 Million in Capital Deployed". Crowdfund Insider. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
  9. Howcroft, Elizabeth. "Virtual real estate plot sells for close to $1 mln". Reuters. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
  10. Edwards, Alex. "Republic Cities Is Launching Its Investment Platform For Community Capital in Dallas". Dallas Innovates. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  11. Howcroft, Elizabeth. "Crypto billionaire Novogratz leads funding for virtual real estate firm". Reuters. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  12. Lau, Yvonne. "JPMorgan bets metaverse is a $1 trillion yearly opportunity as it becomes first bank to open in virtual world". Fortune. Fortune. Archived from the original on November 12, 2022. Retrieved November 12, 2022. Last June, developer Everyrealm (formerly known as Republic Realm) bought a piece of Decentraland land for $913,000. The land has now been turned into the Metajuku shopping district, where JPMorgan's lounge is located.
  13. Leising, Matthew (June 24, 2020). "Crypto Push by Republic Platform Sparked by New Token". Bloomberg. Bloomberg. Archived from the original on November 12, 2022. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
  14. Roberts, Jeff. "AngelList Spinoff Republic Announces a Token Sale". Fortune. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  15. Geron, Tomio (April 4, 2019). "Crowdfunding Site Republic Creating Token to Give to Users". Wall Street Journal. Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on November 12, 2022. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
  16. "Republic Closes $150M Series B Funding Round". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  17. "SheWorx Gets Acquired By Republic". Grit Daily News. June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  18. Kantor, Jessica (September 10, 2022). "How former gymnast Lisa Carmen Wang created a new investment pipeline for female founders". Fast Company. Fast Company. Archived from the original on November 12, 2022. Retrieved November 12, 2022. She left SheWorx and Republic on strong terms, according to Pialy Aditya, Republic's chief strategy officer, who says that Wang "will always remain a good friend to Republic."
  19. "Republic acquires Fig, adding games to its startup crowdfunding platform". TechCrunch. April 17, 2020. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  20. Kaser, Rachel (December 16, 2021). "Republic launches Fig Portfolio Shares for video game investment". VentureBeat. VentureBeat. Archived from the original on November 12, 2022. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
  21. Good, Owen S. (August 5, 2020). "Intellivision Amico reboot delayed to next year". Polygon. Archived from the original on July 11, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  22. Kim, Matt (July 6, 2022). "Intellivision Amico Console Still in Development, CEO Says". IGN. IGN. Archived from the original on November 15, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  23. Strickland, Derek (February 8, 2022). "Intellivision has raised at least $39 million for the Amico". TweakTown. TweakTown. Archived from the original on November 15, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  24. "Republic Moves Further Into Real Estate With Acquisition Of Compound Launching Republic Real Estate Vertical". www.crowdfundinsider.com. June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  25. Ramaswamy, Anita (February 10, 2022). "Republic's metaverse real estate arm spins off, rebrands as Everyrealm". TechCrunch. TechCrunch. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
  26. Ramaswamy, Anita (October 15, 2022). "Former Everyrealm execs sue company for sexual harassment, race discrimination". TechCrunch. TechCrunch. Archived from the original on November 12, 2022. Retrieved November 12, 2022. Ex-NFL player Teyo Johnson has filed new allegations against the crypto startup and its CEO
  27. "NextSeed And Republic Discuss Acquisition". www.crowdfundinsider.com. December 21, 2020. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  28. Butcher, Mike (December 1, 2021). "Republic acquires the UK's Seedrs in $100M deal to push into Europe". TechCrunch. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  29. Hurley, James. "Seedrs sale to Republic a betrayal, say small backers". The Times. The Times. Archived from the original on December 8, 2021. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
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