Savings app Chip targets retail investors in private market first

A British tech company is offering retail investors the chance to buy its shares in a first for the new private securities market that the London Stock Exchange (LSE) hopes will encourage more fast-growing scale-ups to remain in the UK.

Sky News understands that Chip, a savings and investment app used by more than 400,000 customers, will announce this week that it will allow eligible investors to buy and sell shares at a valuation of close to £210m.

The trades will be facilitated on the LSE's Private Securities Market, operating under the Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System - or PISCES - framework which launched this year.

To date, fewer than a handful of companies have used the PISCES system, with those that have including Wayve, the self-driving car platform, and Moneybox, another fast-growing fintech.

Chip's deal will be the first such deal to be targeted at retail investors.

The fintech, co-founded by Simon Rabin and Alex Latham a decade ago, now has over £5bn in assets under management.

It raised its first funding round using the crowdfunding platform Crowdcube in 2017 at a valuation of £4.8m - meaning some of those selling in the latest deal could reap 43 times their original investment.

Chip, which says it has 33,000 retail backers, offers instant-access savings accounts and says it will also shortly offer AI-led financial guidance and regulated targeted support to offer customers financial plans.

An auction of Chip shares will take place on the LSE's private market next month, with buyers able to register their interest with Crowdcube from this Monday.

The PISCES framework was devised to enable investors in private companies to be able to sell shares in a structured way without the companies having to go through a formal listing process.

That was viewed as a critical innovation at a time when the volume of private capital available to business has meant that many are choosing to remain unlisted for far longer than was traditionally the case.

"This auction allows many who share a long-term belief in our idea, to realise some of the value they have helped to create, whilst welcoming new investors to become shareholders in a company they believe in," Mr Rabin said.

"We're proud to be one of the first businesses to bring a community of retail investors to the London Stock Exchange's Private Securities Market.

"Retail investment isn't just for start-ups: it builds serious, scaled businesses like Chip, with loyal customers and communities at the heart of the journey."

More from Sky News:
Business secretary to hold further talks with Poundland owners

Marcus Stuttard, head of UK primary markets and the junior AIM market at the London Stock Exchange - part of FTSE-100 group LSEG - said: "Chip's auction is further testament to the versatility of the Private Securities Market (PSM), and shows the importance of providing companies with choice on how they evolve their businesses.

"By offering liquidity opportunities for existing investors, the PSM enables innovative companies to stay focused on long-term growth, while enabling a broader range of investors to access the UK's most dynamic private businesses."

While the decision of companies such as Wavyve, Moneybox and Chip to use the PISCES framework constitutes an encouraging start for it, market observers say it will need to be far more widely deployed before it can be deemed to have achieved its objectives.

(c) Sky News 2026: Savings app Chip targets retail investors in private market first