Activist investment platform Tulipshare has raised £8.1 million in seed funding.
The London company empowers individuals to make a positive change within some of the biggest household name companies in the world.
The funding comes from Eurazeo, Speedinvest and Frst, as well as the co-founders of social app Zenly and gamestudio Voodoo.
The investment will enable Tulipshare to scale in headcount, seeking over 20 remote hires in engineering, marketing and compliance roles, and geographies – having recently applied for registration as a broker-dealer in the US.
At a time when major businesses are greenwashing through marketing efforts and claiming to prioritise injustices but making no real ethical progress, Tulipshare is pledging to use its platform to take a stand where it matters most – in the boardrooms and shareholder meetings. Having only launched in July 2021 in the UK, the FinTech startup has already made waves within the shareholder activism community.
Through Tulipshare, individuals across the UK can invest as little as £1 to advocate for social and environmental changes at publicly traded companies. It then unifies individuals’ shareholder rights with other investors to make their voices heard and engages directly with the IR teams of companies – empowering users to vote with their money.
Tulipshare currently has four campaigns: advocating for a right-to-repair programme at Apple, elevating warehouse workers’ rights at Amazon, pushing Coca-Cola to use 100% recycled materials in its packaging by 2030 and pressing JP Morgan to stop financing fossil fuels.
When Apple recently announced the launch of a self-service repair program, its IR team immediately notified Tulipshare.
“Retail investment platforms, and thus the number of retail investors, are on the rise. Yet, very few retail investors who own stocks are voting during shareholder meetings and are losing out on their chance to align their investments with their ethical views,” said Antoine Argouges, founder and CEO.
“In addition, there is no universal governance to measure ESG to ensure investments are sustainable. Tulipshare was built to fix this gap in ESG oversight by influencing companies to improve their governance and to take responsibility for their impact on people and our planet.
“Through shareholder activism, Tulipshare enables activists to take a stance on major social and environmental issues by grouping their shareholder rights. This is a first in the industry and this record breaking seed round will help bring the everyday investors into the board rooms. Our goal is to help people globally realise that with a £1 investment you can be a part of a major change.”
Tara Reeves, MD at Eurazeo, added: “Tulipshare is truly a first of its kind platform and we believe that they will make progress in fighting the injustices committed by major corporations.
“ESG is at the core of our investment thesis and now through Tulipshare, activists and retail investors alike can have their voices heard in the corporations by investing and using their shareholder rights to promote meaningful change that is long overdue.”