We discovered Broadway through our Executive Council and reached out to the company through an outbound sourcing effort in early 2016. Broadway introduced us to its sell-side advisor as the company launched a formal fundraising process.
Following several discussions with management, we were chosen as the preferred partner due to our track record in capital markets technology — including prior investments in Liquidnet, Currenex, and Portware. Broadway’s management team believed we could add significant strategic value at the board level.
We invested behind the thesis that:
- Global banks were ill-equipped to manage their complex connectivity and trading infrastructure needs in-house, creating an opportunity for outsourced providers
- New regulations like MiFID II were introducing additional reporting requirements that banks would struggle to meet internally
- Post-crisis cost pressure and competition from Silicon Valley for tech talent made it increasingly difficult for banks to build proprietary solutions
- Broadway was the leading technology platform in an industry ripe for consolidation