Investor communications platform and digital proxy voting service Proxymity has secured US$26 million in funding.
The financial injection comes from its existing investors which comprise US and European banks such as BNY, BNP Paribas, Citi, JP Morgan and State Street as well as post-trade group Clearstream and investor services group Computershare.
The funding also came in the wake of Proxymity’s latest product releases, including the launch of its Vote Connect Global and Investor Portal Platform products. These are designed to provide investors and their intermediaries with the ability to vote at a general meeting.
The inefficiency of the proxy voting process has long been a source of frustration for fund managers and investors. Due to the lack of real-time technology and the prevalence of omnibus accounts, investors have been typically unable to see if their proxy votes have been lodged at general meetings.
The increased importance of stewardship in recent years has only served to exacerbate investors’ concerns. It has also helped boost funding for digital proxy voting services such as Proxymity.
The company was originally established within Citi but was then spun off as an independent entity in 2020.
According to Dean Little, co-founder and CEO at Proxymity, there has been increasing adoption of the platform from investors and intermediaries which has, in turn, led more issuers and issuing agents to connect to the platform in order to track proxy voting in real-time and to more efficiently communicate with shareholders.
“We look forward to leveraging this momentum to further our growth and to deliver exceptional value to our clients and stakeholders,” said Little.
