Beefing up and building out: IPSX boss on its new fundraise

The team at IPSX has never shied from claiming the exchange has revolutionised real estate investment, allowing investors to take stakes in individual buildings such as Birmingham’s Mailbox centre. And now, says its chief executive, it might be a valuable way into one of the few remaining attractive asset classes in volatile times. “We have got a very different story to tell at IPSX,” Roger Clarke, chief executive of the IPSX Group, told EG. “If anything, we look like a safer haven today than we ever did with bitcoin crashing, double-digit inflation meaning you can’t be in cash, rate rises meaning you can’t be in fixed income and a rout in Silicon Valley meaning you can’t be in equities. What the hell can you be in? We think that should point people towards us.” At the moment, investors have a choice of just two stocks on the exchange. Mailbox REIT listed in May 2021, followed at the end of last year by M7 Regional E-Warehouse REIT. But there are now five fresh listings in execution mode, Clarke said. Those include Starwood’s Capital Building in Liverpool; M7’s Bridgewater Place in Leeds; Hope, a provider of accommodation for the homeless; Canterbury City Living, which has a portfolio of various residential properties; and a company with a regional services office portfolio.  “We could be sitting here in September with two trades having become seven,” Clarke said, although he acknowledged the possible stumbling blocks ahead – “The million-dollar question is there is still a war in Europe, and IPO markets are pretty much seized up.” Clarke spoke as IPSX Group lodged its latest accounts, showing a leap in revenue to £167,844 for the 18 months to 30 June 2021. The company posted a loss of £5.6m. In the accounts, the company described the period under review as “dominated by the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic”. During the period, the company launched a fundraise to secure up to £10m in new investment. At the time the accounts were signed off, it had secured £8.8m. Now, said Clarke, that figure stands at £9.6m.  “We wanted to bring in new investors,” Clarke said of the fundraise. “People often observe that M7, as well as being a big shareholder and Richard Croft being a director of the company, are behind the first two issues. We are very fortunate that M7 is so committed to do something this pioneering. It made me think that what we could do with is getting lots of other people in as investors in the company who might be able to do something to help.” The company’s capital raise saw it welcome more than 60 new shareholders, including international and institutional names, with the largest investment being £1m. “There’s a lot of new people in the gang,” Clarke said. The only existing investor to come back in was M7, which is now its largest shareholder.  The company is close to securing the full £10m, the chief executive added, with final discussions ongoing with other new names. “The reason we are raising what seems like a lot of money is we have great plans to invest in the team, recruit people, increase our marketing presence,” Clarke said. “Having built the exchange during Covid times, with the complexity of building an electronic exchange… having got all of that working, now we want to put some capacity through and beef up the team.”   To send feedback, e-mail tim.burke@eg.co.uk or tweet @_tim_burke or @EGPropertyNews