Bond axes data specialist Neptune Networks has raised more than $15 million in capital from its existing shareholders, which includes major institutions such as Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan.
Neptune said that most of its existing investors participated in the recent funding round, including Bank of America, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and others.
“In the current environment, which is accelerating change at speeds never seen in fixed income, Neptune is well placed to take advantage of the opportunities that benefit the key stakeholders, the buy-side and sell-side,” said Bryan Cooper-Fogarty, interim CEO of Neptune. “Neptune is a truly collaborative project, where we have continued to see buy-side adoption.”
Neptune’s network for bond axes consists of 28 dealers that contribute inventory data in several asset classes, including credit, rates and emerging markets, to institutional buy-side clients. The dealer community generates 63,000-line items daily on more than 30,000 bonds.
“At Union Investment we have been part of Neptune since inception, the importance of the network in the evolution of fixed income market structure can’t be overemphasised,” said Christoph Hock, head of multi-asset trading at Union Investment. “The recent capital raise will allow Neptune to continue to innovate and add significant value to the buy-side community.”
The recent funding will be used to improve client coverage at Neptune, particularly in the US where the firm said it has seen significant growth over the past 18 months. The funds will also serve to grow Neptune’s data and technology, as well as its business structure.
“Increasing connectivity with clients is a key tenet of our credit business and crucial for the evolution of the market. Neptune continues to be a game changer by facilitating this in a low cost and efficient manner, in turn increasing competition in the market. Its strong data governance values also gives us and our clients comfort to do business in a safe and effective way,” Guy America, global head of credit markets at JP Morgan, commented.