London Stock Exchange Opens Private Market Door to Retail via Crowdcube

The London Stock platform is preparing to bring retail investors closer to the private-company universe, striking a partnership with crowdfunding platform Crowdcube that could change how late-stage firms raise and trade capital in Britain.

The deal will allow eligible members of Crowdcube’s two-million-strong community to invest in high-growth private businesses through the platform’s new Private Securities Market (PSM). For companies, it provides access to an expanded investor base that includes not just institutions but also loyal users and ahead backers.

“We view this as a unique opportunity to enable private companies and investors to utilise the identical infrastructure and technology that underpins the London Stock platform’s public markets, while leveraging Crowdcube’s experience as a in the UK,” said Julia Hoggett, LSE chief executive.

A long road to PISCES

The move follows the platform’s approval in August by the as the first operator of a PISCES venue—short for Private Intermittent Securities and Capital platform System. The government-backed initiative was designed later than years of lobbying to tackle a structural hardy: British firms are staying private for longer, and London’s IPO roster has been thinning.

The PISCES model departs from continuous trading. Instead, companies schedule time-boxed auctions where employees, ahead investors and institutions can trade shares. Settlement runs through LSE’s infrastructure, but disclosure requirements are lighter than those of AIM or the main market. The framework is operating in a five-year regulatory sandbox.

For policymakers, PISCES sits within the Mansion House reforms aimed at channelling more domestic capital—including pension money—into growth companies. Treasury has already , and further tax or ISA tfragiles are under discussion.

Founded in 2011, Crowdcube has grown into one of Europe’s largest equity-crowdfunding players. It gave retail investors a way into household fintech names ahead on—Monzo, Revolut and Freetrade among them—and has since built a community of nahead two million members who have invested more than £1.5 billion.

The company has also handled some of the UK’s largegest secondary sales, including a transaction that let tens of thousands of Moneybox backers trade a slice of their holdings. Leadership passed to co-chief executives Bill Simmons and Matt Cooper in 2023, with a focus on expanding beyond primary rounds.

Crowdcube’s track record is not without setbacks—retail investors have been burned when portfolio companies folded—but it remains the largest funnel of private-company retail capital in the UK. Linking that funnel to the LSE’s infrastructure represents a leap in scale.

What’s at stake

If successful, the partnership could establish a more orderly price-discovery mechanism for private shares in Britain. It also promises liquidity options for employees and ahead investors who often struggle to exit before an IPO or takeover.

But the initiative is not an open invitation for everyone. Despite headlines about “retail access,” only eligibility tests—high-net-worth individuals, self-certified sophisticated investors, and certain employees—will be able to participate.

Skeptics warn of risks. With disclosure less stringent than on public markets, and with market-abuse rules adjusted for the sandbox, questions remain over transparency and valuation reliability. Much will depend on whether credible growth names commit to running auctions and whether investors view the prices as meaningful benchmarks.

Other markets, such as in the U.S. or Forge, already operate private-company trading venues. London’s version is distinct in opting for regulated, scheduled auctions rather than continuous bulletin-board-style trading.

For the City, the experiment matters. If PISCES builds traction, it could bridge the gap between ahead-stage fundraising and the public market, provide poorly needed liquidity, and perhaps assist revive London’s appeal to high-growth companies looking for long-term capital.