# Capdesk Financial Model SaaS + transaction-commission platform for private company equity management and secondary share transactions. - Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/capdesk - Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/capdesk.xlsx - Category: Marketplace - Model type: Marketplace / GMV - Funding round: Series A - Funding: $11M - Founded: 2021 - Geography: UK-headquartered; current focus UK/Ireland. Target expansion: Scandinavia, France, Germany [DECK, slide 13]. - Customer: B2B ## About the company Capdesk provides software for private-company equity management and secondary share transactions. Companies use it for cap tables, options, reporting, and shareholder administration, while the transaction product automates secondary sales, compliance, documentation, and post-close updates. The company reported more than 500 companies, 100,000 investors, and over £20 billion of market capitalization on the platform. Its commercial structure combines recurring company subscriptions with commission on private-share transactions, where subscriptions cover the base platform and transactions provide the higher-margin upside. The model keeps the two revenue engines distinct. Company additions, ARPU, churn, and expansion build SaaS ARR, while deal count, average transaction size, and commission rate build transaction revenue. Product, compliance, sales, and international expansion costs then connect the growth plan to profitability and cash needs. ## What's included - 5-year monthly revenue build with stage-appropriate growth assumptions - Full P&L, headcount plan, and operating-expense schedule - Cash-flow statement, runway, and burn-rate tracking - Valuation via exit multiple with a DCF cross-check - Returns analysis with MOIC and IRR - Unit economics including CAC, LTV, payback, and cohort retention ## Product & value proposition - Equity management platform for private (unlisted) companies. Two modules: 1. **Equity Management** - cap table, shareholder register, convertibles, warrants, options (EMI/CSOP), growth shares, option pools/plans/grants, auto-vesting, IFRS2 share-based payment reporting, HMRC filing, round modelling. 2. **Automated Transactions** - end-to-end secondary share transactions: configure seller table, handle ROFR/pre-emption, AML/KYC/escrow, e-sign documentation (SPAs, SHAs, STFs), stamp duty with HMRC, automated cap table/register update post-close. - Mission stated as "the infrastructure for private equity". - Value prop: replaces costly manual administration (described as "thousands of pounds every year, million-pound mistakes or fines") and unlocks liquidity for holders of illiquid private shares. ## Market - No explicit TAM/SAM/SOM figures in deck. - Qualitative market context: - IPOs stagnated since 2000; uncalled PE capital at highest levels; employee-owned businesses in UK growing 10% YoY; annual global startup funding up ~50% in 2017. - Competitor benchmarks used to signal market size: Solium acquired for $900M (Morgan Stanley, 2019); Carta valued at $1.7B (Series E, Andreessen Horowitz, 2019); Computershare acquired Equatex (~$40B assets under administration). - Client portfolio: "total market cap of +£20B" across Capdesk's client base. ## Revenue model - **Stream 1 - Subscription:** Recurring annual SaaS fee per company. No price points disclosed in deck. - **Stream 2 - Commission on transactions:** Variable fee on secondary share transactions facilitated through the platform. No commission rate disclosed. - Strategic framing: "Covering expenses through subscriptions and profiting from transactions" - implies subscription covers base costs; transaction commissions are the profit engine. - Roadmap revenue evolution: - 2017–19: SaaS only (equity management) - 2019–2020: SaaS + Commission (transactions added) - 2021: SaaS + Commission + Broker integrations ## Traction & metrics - +£20bn total market cap on Capdesk - +500 companies on Capdesk - +100,000 investors on Capdesk - +500% MRR Growth in 2019 - Sample clients include: Chattermill, Secret Escapes, Nutmeg, Billie, Voi, Plum Guide, Gousto - Customer reviews: multiple 5/5 ratings on Capterra cited on slide 10 - No ARR, absolute MRR, churn, or NRR figures disclosed. ## Competition / moat - Named competitors (implied by M&A comps): Solium/Shareworks (acquired by Morgan Stanley $900M), Carta (US, $1.7B valuation), Equatex (acquired by Computershare). - Moat claims: - First-mover positioning as "Europe's leading equity management platform." - Full-stack: combines admin software + transaction execution in one platform (competitors typically do one or the other). - Embedded compliance: AML/KYC, HMRC filings, stamp duty, IFRS2 reporting built in - high switching cost once live. - Network effect: as more companies and investors are on-platform, secondary liquidity improves. - "Capdesk has been approached by several acquirers". ## Team & funding ask / use of funds - **Co-founders:** - Christian Gabriel, Co-founder & CEO - ex-Country Manager FundedByMe; BSc Computer Science & Communication, University of Copenhagen. - Mikkel Boje, Co-founder & CTO - ex-Partner Accurate IT, IT Manager Netcompany; MSc AI, University of Edinburgh. - Martin Damhus, Co-founder & CIO - ex-Partner Accurate IT, IT Manager Netcompany; MSc Computer Science, University of Copenhagen. - **Key hires:** - Hakon Junge, CCO - ex-Growth Manager at Pleo. - Guillaume Simard, CTO - ex-Engineering Director at Pleo; 10+ years engineering. - Greg Carter, CFO - ex-CEO & Founder of Growth Street; 13+ years in finance. - **Funding ask:** £5M, extending Series A from July 2020. - **Use of funds:** Geographic expansion into Scandinavia, France, Germany; cement position as Europe's leading equity management platform. - Prior round amount not disclosed. --- ## Recommended financial model - **Archetype + why:** SaaS ARR + transaction GMV/commission model. Two revenue streams require separate build: (1) recurring subscription ARR driven by company count and ARPU, and (2) transaction volume (secondary deal flow) × take-rate. The deck's own framing ("covering expenses through subscriptions, profiting from transactions") makes this the natural segmentation. - **Forecast horizon & granularity:** Monthly for Year 1–2 (to capture ramp of new markets), quarterly for Year 3–5. 5-year horizon appropriate for a Series A-stage growth company. - **Key drivers & assumptions:** *Subscription stream:* - Starting company count: 500 - New company adds per month - Annual subscription price per company - Gross churn rate - Expansion ARR / upsell *Transaction / commission stream:* - Secondary transaction volume (£GMV) on platform; model deal count and avg. deal size separately] - Commission take-rate - Transactions per quarter *Costs:* - Headcount (primary cost driver) - R&D, hosting, compliance costs - S&M costs per new market - **Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):** - **Base:** 30–40 new companies/month, 1% transaction take-rate, 7% annual churn, ARPU £5k. - **Bull:** Faster geo expansion (Scandinavia + France + Germany all live by end Year 2), higher deal flow (broker integrations accelerate transaction volume), lower churn due to network effects. - **Bear:** Geo expansion delayed to Year 3, deal flow takes longer to build, churn elevated (10–12%) as larger companies migrate to Carta US or bespoke solutions. - **Required sheets / outputs:** 1. Assumptions - all drivers in one place, colour-coded 2. Company Cohort Model - monthly new adds, churned, active; by geography 3. Subscription Revenue - active companies × ARPU 4. Transaction Revenue - deal count × avg. GMV × take-rate 5. P&L - combined revenue, COGS (hosting, support), gross profit, OpEx (S&M, R&D, G&A), EBITDA 6. Headcount Plan - by function and geo 7. Cash Flow & Runway - burn rate, cash position, months of runway post-raise 8. KPI Dashboard - MRR, ARR, company count, investors on platform, GMV, take-rate revenue, CAC (if data added) 9. Sensitivity - ARPU vs. churn; take-rate vs. deal volume ## Frequently asked questions ### Is the Capdesk financial model free? Yes. The Capdesk model is a free Excel download with live formulas. ### Can I change the assumptions? Yes. The workbook is editable and its live formulas recalculate when assumptions change.