Tips, News and Insights from the Nº1 Equity Management Platform in Europe

At Capdesk we believe every company should combine a steady pay with co-ownership in the company. Giving employees co-ownership in the company can increase motivation and incentivise them to work harder, but employee share schemes can be tricky to handle - luckily we're here to help! 

Last week, we announced our partnership with the largest private secondary market in Europe, Seedrs. This will create a unique secondary liquidity offering, serving the needs of the wider market with the ability to trade shares in private companies. Employees and shareholders are now much better off when the time comes and they want to sell their shares. 

At Capdesk, we work with hundreds of companies who operate across multiple countries, and so we want your experience to be as flexible as possible. As of today, you'll be able to create share classes under various different currencies, execute transactions in a currency different than the one you issued the particular shares in, as well as export reports in any currency you want. It's all up to you!

As a high-growth company, you're likely already using an HR software to help you manage your constantly expanding team. With several of our clients having several hundreds, or even thousands of employees, we realise how much more efficient it is for some of you to have the data on your HR tool feed directly into Capdesk. So we're making it possible.

At Capdesk, we put efficiency above all else. That's why we've created a new feature for you to access all your relevant equity documents in one place - for those moments in life where you're a little extra pressed for time! 

Remember that time we made history by making end-to-end option grant signing digital? Well, that put a smile on a few of your faces which made us very happy. So we decided to put in some hard work and extend our digital signing functionalities, so that we can now empower you execute your phantom shares and share grants online too. We want you to have full control, and full flexibility over your equity. Here's the gist of it: 

Equity can be confusing for all of us. Both to manage, but sometimes even to talk about! Capdesk’s got you covered on both fronts: you already know we save you time, money, and a ton of headaches by streamlining your equity management, but now we’re also helping out with the talking about equity bit. Here’s our list of essential equity definitions, kept short and sweet to support you through puzzling conversations about ownership across time and space. Just keep this equity cheat sheet in your back pocket and take a quick sneak peak anytime you need a refresher on equity terms (we won’t tell!). 

A few months ago we changed the game of digital equity management, by enabling private UK companies to execute option grants 100% online. But think we forgot about companies like yours based elsewhere in Europe, or operating in multiple jurisdictions? Guess again! We've now made grant execution even more flexible on Capdesk, so you can issue them compliantly, no matter where in the continent you're issuing them. 

Got offered a grant by your employer company but not sure how it works? We've got you. Capdesk explains stock vesting, how vesting schedules work, when you can exercise your options, and more - in simple terms as usual!

The Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) are two of the UK government’s most generous - and hence most popular - initiatives to encourage investors to fund early stage businesses. Considering that - in theory at least - newer companies present a higher investment risk, many a founder have applied for one or both of these schemes, hoping to attract investors.