Founders

Matt Briers has been the CFO of Wise since 2015. In 2021, Matt led the company to a direct listing on the London Stock Exchange, the first major direct listing in Europe. Wise, founded in the UK in 2011 by Kristo Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus, has revolutionized cross-border payments for individuals and businesses by making them easier, faster and cheaper. After 10 years as a private company, Wise followed in the footsteps of Spotify and Slack by doing a direct listing instead of a regular IPO, at a valuation of 11 billion dollars. With Matt, we discuss the rationale and timing to go public for a profitable tech company which doesn’t need to raise money, his experience of the direct listing process, and the considerations around a UK listing rather than US. If you have feedback, or there are any topics you would like us to cover on the show, please reach out at contact@ipostories.com Disclaimer: this discussion is not financial advice, nor an investment recommendation, nor a solicitation to buy or sell any financial instruments, or an offer for financial services or any other transaction. The information contained in the recording have no contractual value and are destined for an informational purpose only. Amundsen Investment Management and the participants on this podcast may have holdings in the companies being discussed.

Emmanuel Thomassin is the CFO of Delivery Hero, one of the world's leading online food delivery platforms. He has been the CFO since 2014 and led the company through its successful €1bn IPO on the Frankfurt stock exchange in 2017. Since then, Delivery Hero have continued leading the charge in food delivery globally, using the listing as a catalyst to fund important acquisitions and continue growing the organization. With Emmanuel, we discuss important elements surrounding the IPO process from the company perspective: preparation and benefits of preparation for an IPO, the rationale for going public, considerations around listing location, and post-listing dangers and pitfalls. Disclaimer: this discussion is not financial advice, nor an investment recommendation, nor a sollicitation to buy or sell any financial instruments, or an offer for financial services or any other transaction. The information contained in the recording have no contractual value and are destined for an informational purposes only. Amundsen Investment Management and the participants on this podcast may have holdings in the companies being discussed.