Nicholas Braiden has spent years at the intersection of blockchain and financial infrastructure, witnessing how cumbersome cap table management can be for growing firms. With Vestd recently securing its first institutional backing from Foresight Group after years of profitability, we sit down to discuss how this shift signals a major evolution in the sharetech landscape. We explore the transition from organic growth to venture-backed acceleration, the regulatory shifts in the UK’s private share-trading regime, and the strategic expansion into high-growth markets like India.
After operating profitably for several years with backing from friends and associates, what specific market shifts or internal milestones made this the right moment for Vestd to pivot toward institutional capital?
It really comes down to the sheer velocity of the current fintech ecosystem. While Vestd has been profitable and stable since raising several million pounds from friends and associates back in the summer of 2021, the landscape for private equity management is shifting from a niche service to a core infrastructure requirement. The arrival of the Financial Conduct Authority’s new PISCES regime represents a massive regulatory milestone that demands immediate, sophisticated infrastructure. By partnering with Foresight Group for their first institutional round, the company is gaining the firepower to secure its position as a licensed operator before the market becomes saturated. It is a calculated move to transition from a steady-state business to a high-speed innovator that can handle the complexities of thousands of UK businesses simultaneously.
The PISCES regime is a significant development for private company share trading. How does building infrastructure for this framework change the value proposition for a sharetech platform?
Integrating directly with the Financial Conduct Authority’s framework through PISCES fundamentally changes how private companies view liquidity. Historically, equity in a private firm was “dead” capital until a major exit, but this new regime allows for a much more fluid trading environment. For a platform like Vestd, this means moving beyond simple cap table management and becoming a literal engine for secondary market transactions. They are already deeply embedded in customer workflows with a comprehensive Companies House integration, which significantly reduces the manual errors that plague traditional equity issuance. By expanding into enterprise product capabilities—supporting multi-class structures and companies listed on the AIM and Aquis exchanges—they are bridging the gap between private agility and public-market sophistication.
Vestd recently moved into the Indian market through a partnership with Trica Equity. What makes India such a compelling region for this specific type of equity inclusion technology?
India is arguably one of the most exciting frontiers for fintech because its corporate structures are becoming increasingly sophisticated yet remain underserved by automated tools. After launching Vestd India last year through the Trica Equity partnership, the team has already seen significant momentum because the market is structurally well-suited to a software-led approach. In a region where growth businesses are exploding in number, the manual pain points like complex share issuance and error-prone record-keeping are even more pronounced. Scaling operations there allows the company to test its enterprise product roadmap in a high-volume environment. It is not just about geographical reach; it is about proving that a scalable solution for equity inclusion can work across different regulatory jurisdictions and diverse business practices.
Beyond global expansion, the company mentioned a strategic AI program as a core pillar for this investment. How do you see artificial intelligence reshaping the way businesses manage shareholder relations and equity structures?
Artificial intelligence is the natural next step for any platform that deals with massive amounts of sensitive, structured data. In the context of sharetech, AI can be used to predict dilution scenarios, automate the vetting of complex multi-class equity documents, and streamline the onboarding process for large-scale enterprises. It takes the manual equity issuance problem that often frustrates management teams and provides a self-correcting layer that prevents human error before it happens. This strategic AI program will likely allow the platform to offer deeper insights to leadership, transforming a compliance tool into a strategic advisory asset. When you are managing equity for companies listed on AIM or Aquis, the margin for error is zero, and AI provides that necessary layer of precision and speed.
What is your forecast for the future of private company share trading and equity inclusion?
I believe we are entering an era where the distinction between private and public equity will become increasingly blurred for the average employee or investor. As platforms standardize the infrastructure for secondary trading, we will see a massive democratization of wealth where equity inclusion becomes the standard, not the exception, for every private company. Within the next five years, the friction of manual issuance will be a relic of the past, replaced by transparent, real-time digital registries that provide immediate liquidity options. This shift will likely lead to a more vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem, as the true value of company ownership is finally unlocked and made accessible to everyone involved in the growth journey.