What is Linqto? | Linqto Review

Linqto is a technology-enabled online investment platform that allows ordinary accredited investors to identify, evaluate, invest and trade securities in the world’s leading unicorns.

Secondary markets today are inaccessible and unaffordable to most accredited investors. Of the world’s estimated 45 million accredited investors, only about 2 per cent are actively invested in private markets.

The remaining 98 per cent have no way of accessing and exploiting investment opportunities in this asset class. They must wait for unicorns to go public before they can buy the unicornshares. In so doing, they miss out on the greater return potential afforded to earlier investors who were able to buy their shares pre-IPO.

The platform makes it easy, quick and affordable to access global private securities markets.

CHECK PRE-IPO SHARES AVAILABLE VIA THIS LINK.

Who Owns Linqto?

Linqto is enabled by tech and powered by teamwork. The company was founded in Jan 2010 by Bill Sarris, he is a recognised expert in the field of banking and investment technology.

With over a decade of experience in financial services applications, digital and mobile banking, Bill’s work has received the Monarch innovation Award for Banking and the Forrester Groundswell Award.

The Linqto Story

The San Francisco-based company began operations as a digital banking technology firm that provided SAAS to fintechs.

During the first few years of operation, Linqto launched its Otter API and partnered with LEVERAGE to power Linqto’s App Store for Banks – a marketplace where banks could pick apps and brand them as their own.

In 2018, Linqto managed to raise $1.6 million in two funding rounds and transformed itself into an investment service with its Global Investor Platform.

On Feb 12 2020, Linqto announced Equity in Unicorns, a new investing platform for private securities. They designed the platform to help accredited investors invest in the private market quickly and affordably.

Linqto Statistics

As of this review, Linqto Liquidshares Portfolio consists of 140 Investments in 26 Companies (4 exits), 3,937 Member Investments and $66M Amount of Investments.

CHECK PRE-IPO SHARES AVAILABLE VIA THIS LINK.

Linqto Pros and Cons | Linqto Review

Pros

• Linqto’s digital platform is fast, easy-to-use and inclusive
• They qualify accredited investors and provide access to investments in top tech companies pre-IPO
• A private investment’s minimum order is $10,000 with no added fees or hidden costs
• You can liquidate your investments and realise early returns without waiting for IPO or acquisition.
• They also score a perfect 100/100 on security posture and cyber resilience by SecurityScorecard (a global leader in cybersecurity ratings)

Cons

• They could have more private companies to invest in
• Monetising shares with Linqto takes long (30-60 days)

Linqto Plans and Fees | Linqto Review

You’d expect fees in private markets to be really high, but that’s not the case with Linqto.

While fees have historically been astronomical in private markets, Linqto is dedicated to offering a zero-fee investment platform – no management fees, brokerage fees, or carried interest.

You’ll only be required to pay an introduction fee in respect of the purchase of, sale, or other dealing in a Security.

Linqto Bucks | Linqto Review

Linqto Bucks is the company’s referral program that aims at making private investing more inclusive for you and your friends.

By helping grow the Linqto community, anyone who registers using your unique referral link will get $250 Linqto Bucks immediately for joining. Once they complete their first investments, you get $750 Linqto Bucks. There’s no limit to the number of Linqto Bucks you can earn.

CHECK PRE-IPO SHARES AVAILABLE VIA THIS LINK.

Global Investor Conference | Linqto Review

Presented by Linqto, this one of a kind global virtual event features 15 panels, tens of industry experts and hours of learning and connecting with accredited investors from around the globe. This free educational service  is part of their stated mission – “private investing made simple.”

The quarterly event gives investors a unique opportunity to learn about the latest trends in private equity and venture investments. It offers insights into the world of private investing through panel discussions and interviews with technical specialists, visionary investors and thought leaders across a wide spectrum of industries.

Who should attend the GIC?

While the GIC is designed for anyone who wants to learn or connect with investors, Linqto offerings are designed for accredited investors.

What does registration cost for the GIC?

The GIC is a complimentary event structured to bring learning and networking opportunities to the Linqto Community of Investors.

Speakers aren’t compensated, nor are you required to pay Linqto to participate in the program.

Linqto is dedicated to ensuring that these programs are enlightening and often reveal opportunities in the market for you to explore more on your own.

How long does the GIC last?

Each Global Investor Conference is normally an all-day event that’s centred on a particular theme.

In various 45-minute sessions throughout the day, small groups of accomplished investors and seasoned executives from all over the world share their experience and vision on current trends in their industrial sector. The GIC is truly global, typically featuring diverse viewpoints from the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific throughout the day.

During the live event, Linqto encourages audience participation, and your questions can be answered in real-time.

What if I can’t attend the whole event?

The GIC is designed to be flexible for your schedule and availability.  The ZOOM link you’ll get after registration will let you join and leave sessions that fit your schedule.

What if I miss a session of the conference?

All conference sessions are recorded and made available on this YouTube Channel.  You can check all past events here.

CHECK PRE-IPO SHARES AVAILABLE VIA THIS LINK.

Products | Linqto Review

In the current market, modern companies are staying private for much longer than they used to.

In 2000, the median age for tech companies going public was 4-5 years. Fast forward a decade later, and now that number is 12 years.

The returns generated by these private companies throughout their growth phase can only be achieved by accessing the private share market. As an investor, this makes it critical that you gain an earlier entry point to these companies by investing in private company shares.

Institutions around the globe are increasingly turning their attention to the private markets. Every big category of institutional investors considers themselves under-allocated to private markets.

In the current market, where traditional assets are projected to deliver muted returns over the next decade, private companies can deliver the yield pickup needed to reach your investing goals.

Also, private markets aren’t subject to most of the difficulties linked to investing in public equity markets. Indexing, quarterly reporting moves, ETFs and flash crashes are some of the facets of the public markets that directly affect investors, despite having little to do with the underlying performance of a given company. Private markets are shielded from these concerns.

Here are some pre-IPO startups you can invest in – Ripple, Uphold, Zipline, Addepar, Carbon, Kraken, Automation Anywhere, Tealium, ThoughtSpot, Bloomreach and Blockchain Coinvestors.

How can I invest?

Take time to scrutinise Linqto’s Investments and narrow them down into company-specific details on every company page. There, you can find news and info about each company, plus Linqto Investment Summary for that offering.

These summaries give detailed information regarding valuation and financials, as well as a summary of the nature of each business’s operations.

Once you decide on a company to invest in, use the slider to choose the size of your allocation. Click the “Place Order” button, and Linqto will initiate your order.

How can I fund my investment in Linqto?

After making your investment, Linqto’s team of experienced financial professionals will walk you through the simple funding process.

They will provide wire instructions and confirm with you upon receipt of your funds.

As a new investor, you have ten business days to fund your orders. Returning investors are given five business days.

If you value convenience, you can choose to fund your orders through the Uphold wallet. Uphold is a separate company from Linqto, but one that they partner closely with.

To use this method, create your account at Uphold, link your wallet here, and you will be able to fund your future Linqto investments instantly.

Uphold’s digital wallet can hold US dollars, cryptocurrencies, commodities, foreign currencies, and other assets. You can use any of these assets to fund your investments at Linqto.

CHECK PRE-IPO SHARES AVAILABLE VIA THIS LINK.

How do I verify my identity in Linqto?

You can easily verify your identity on Linqto’s website or mobile app.

After creating your account, you’ll be directed to a screen that lets you scan your driver’s license (available for US investors) or passport (available for investors worldwide). Once you’ve scanned your DL or passport, you’ll be asked to take a selfie to complete the Know Your Customer (KYC) process.

Suppose you are based outside the US with no passport. In that case, you can email a picture of the front and back of your national ID card or DL as well as a selfie to invest@linqto.com. This will help Linqto to verify your identity manually.

Investment Platform | Linqto Review

Getting started is simple! Just create an account on either the Linqto website or their app using your Android or Apple device.

Do I have to be an Accredited Investor?

Yes, all investors must be accredited.

An accredited Investor is a person/business entity with a special status under applicable financial regulation laws. That person/entity is permitted to deal in securities that may not be registered with financial authorities. Accredited investors include banks, large corporations, financial institutions, natural high net worth individuals, brokers and trusts.

If you’re unsure about your accreditation status, you can visit Linqto’s Accreditation Page to learn more about your status.

If you find out you’re not accredited, you can upload your documentation and wait for up to 48 hours for Linqto to accredit you.

The platform ensures there’s always an experienced financial professional on standby to review your accreditation details, and they work hard to make sure that even investors who are a bit off the beaten path can be accredited.

If you already know you’re an accredited investor, you can proceed and make an investment straight away, and Linqto can accredit you as they work to close your investment.

What about deals that fall through due to the underlying company exercising its right of first refusal or refusing to approve the transfer?

If you’re worried about a deal falling through because of either of the two reasons, this isn’t an issue at Linqto.

Unlike other firms, Linqto isn’t just a broker. They won’t put your funds into escrow while they wait for the underlying company to (hopefully) approve the deal.

Instead, before they feature an investment in a company, Linqto has already taken their own capital and fully bought its shares.

So if you’re planning to buy into a company, Linqto already owns the shares. This means they can transfer that exposure to you immediately, and there’s zero risk of the deal falling through.

Every offer you see on Linqto’s platform is 100 per cent guaranteed to close.

How long do deals take to complete?

At Linqto, you can complete a deal in under a minute as opposed to waiting months for deals to complete (and facing the risk of the deal falling through while you wait).

Simply log in to their website or app on your Android or Apple device, pick your company and amount to allocate, and make your investment.

I’ve had trouble meeting the minimum investment of $100k at other firms; how does Linqto handle this?

Linqto vision is to make the market accessible for investors of all types.

All of their investments come with a minimum investment of only $10k.

No investor wants to be forced to put all of their eggs into one basket. The low barriers to entry allow you to diversify your holdings across a number of companies, which is a vital aspect of achieving consistent returns in the private markets.

What happens when my company exits?

In the event that the underlying company exits to the public markets, Linqto will go ahead and obtain your brokerage account information.

You can open a brokerage account (often for free) at various online or traditional brokers if you don’t have one. Linqto will then move your now-public, registered shares of stock into your brokerage account.

You can fully manage the company shares at that juncture, and Linqto will no longer charge a management fee. Linqto’s aim is to provide you with exposure to private companies. Once these companies go public, you should be flexible enough to manage your own situation as you see fit.

While some of Linqto’s investors like to hold a company’s stock after going public, a majority want consistent exposure to the private markets. After the company exits, they liquidate their position and reinvest the proceeds back into the private markets.

Can I invest through a retirement vehicle?

Yes!

If you want to invest through a retirement vehicle, you can reach out to Linqto’s team of experienced financial professionals. Send them an email with the details of your retirement account at invest@linqto.com.

Linqto will create a separate entity through which you can invest via your retirement vehicle. For maximum convenience, this entity will sit within your same Linqto account.

When you’re ready to invest, Linqto will present you with a dropdown menu where you can select to invest through your personal account or your retirement account.

Linqto will give you the flexibility to make one investment in your personal account and the other in your retirement vehicle (within the same Linqto account).

Can I invest through an LLC, Trust, or other entity?

Yes!

To do this, reach out to Linqto’s team of experienced financial professionals. Send them an email with the details of your LLC, Trust, or other entity to invest@linqto.com.

Linqto will create this entity through which you can invest. For maximum convenience, this entity will sit within your same Linqto account.

When you’re ready to invest, Linqto will present you with a dropdown menu where you can select to invest through your personal account or your other entity.

Linqto will give you the flexibility to make one investment in your personal account and the next in your other entity.

Can I sell before a company exits?

As of this review, Linqto only allows investors to gain exposure to the stock of private companies. This is, however, only the first part of Linqto’s vision.

The second part of Linqto’s vision is to develop a platform where these investments can be freely traded.

This sort of platform does not currently exist, mostly due to tough regulations. But things look promising thanks to the development of Linqto’s platform and the growth of the private markets.

Linqto is actively collaborating with regulators to develop a stock exchange for private companies, and they believe it will be a critical development in the private market, for Linqto and its investors.

For the time being, until this sort of platform becomes possible, you won’t be able to liquidate your position before an exit.

While Linqto does its best to feature companies actively working towards an exit, they ultimately cannot guarantee that all of their investments will experience an exit.

CHECK PRE-IPO SHARES AVAILABLE VIA THIS LINK.

Can I Sell my Shares to Linqto? | Linqto Review

Yes!

Just like you enjoy easy access to the private market shares, if you hold shares in a Unicorn or high-value private company as an early investor or employee, you easily liquidate and monetise them without waiting for an IPO or trade sale.

The platform has provided liquidity to many early shareholders by directly purchasing shares from them. To be eligible, you have to be the original shareholder or optionee of the shares and be currently listed on the Issuer’s cap table.

To apply, click here, enter your personal details (full name, phone, email address), select a company, share class (preferred, common, options), number of shares and price per share.

How does Linqto bring investments to its platform?

Linqto’s model is unique in that they first invest their own capital to secure the shares before listing a company on the platform.

They then engage with shareholders as direct buyers without the need for a broker or intermediary, so there are no commissions or other fees for selling transactions with them.

I see my company’s shares listed on Linqto’s platform. How do I sell my shares to Linqto?

Linqto is more than willing to buy any number of shares for companies already listed on the platform.

To sell your shares, fill out this form to get in touch with Linqto’s origination team. Once they receive your inquiry to monetise your shares, they will be in touch to discuss terms.

It’s worth noting that Linqto is unable to purchase shares that were bought on the Linqto platform.

I don’t see my company’s shares listed on Linqto. How do new companies make it onto the platform?

Linqto’s internal investment committee vets each investment and makes purchases according to the economics and criteria they believe make the investment valuable to Linqto investors.

After vetting, Linqto’s origination team approaches current shareholders of the company about directly purchasing their shares. Both parties sign a purchase agreement if the seller agrees to Linqto’s terms, and the issuing company is notified of the deal to transfer shares.

After the issuing company approves the transfer, Linqto retains ownership of the shares and lists the company as an offering on their platform.

If my company’s shares aren’t listed on the platform, is Linqto interested in buying them?

Probably.

Linqto will consider buying shares for any mid-late stage, Pre-IPO companies that aren’t listed on the platform.

If you’re planning to sell your privately held shares of a company that’s not listed on the platform, complete this form for Linqto’s investment committee to review and get back to you.

Linqto does NOT invest in pre-seed or seed level companies.

How long does the process take to monetise my shares with Linqto?

The amount of time it takes to monetise shares with Linqto typically lasts between 30 days to 60 days depending on the issuing company’s first right of refusal period outlined within its stock agreements.

Provided the issuing company has accepted the transfer of shares between the seller and Linqto, the deal can close quickly after that.

Does Linqto buy institutional shares?

Yes, Linqto buys shares from institutions.

Fill out this inquiry form if you represent an institutional investor and are interested in liquidating shares.

CHECK PRE-IPO SHARES AVAILABLE VIA THIS LINK.

Is Linqto Legit? | Linqto Review

Linqto’s has existed for over a decade. The company has a 3.2/5 rating on Trustpilot and 100/100 Trustscore on ScamAdvisor.

Is Linqto Safe? | Linqto Review

Linqto recognises your concern for security and has put in place measures to establish secure connections with you and limit access to databases containing Personal Data to authorised personnel only. Linqto doesn’t share Personal Data with third parties without your consent.

Even if Linqto goes bankrupt, you can rest assured that your investments will continue to exist. All of Linqto’s investments exist in bankruptcy-remote vehicles and are fully shielded from claims by any creditor in the event of a liquidation.

You’re required to provide an email address and create a password in order to access Linqto Services. Linqto offers 2FA via a user’s mobile device (SMS or a supported Time-based OTP application). A verified phone number is required to enable second-factor authentication via SMS.

Is Linqto Regulated? | Linqto Review

In the UK, Linqto is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Among the roles of the FCA are to protect consumers, keep the industry stable, and promote healthy competition between financial service providers.

Linqto Customer Support | Linqto Review

You can contact Linqto’s Customer Care by leaving them a message with your support/technical question or emailing them at support@linqto.com. They promise to get back to you as soon as they can.

Linqto also has a social presence with accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram.

Who Are Linqto’s Competitors? | Linqto Review

Linqto’s main competitors include Open Markets, Bloomio, MoneyThor, Carta and D3 Banking Technology.

Linqto Review Verdict:  Should I Use Linqto? | Linqto Review

Linqto is democratising investment in pre-IPO companies. We recommend it if you want to dip a toe in private markets but have a limited budget.

Investing in securities in private companies is speculative and involves a high degree of risk. Before placing a request or order, do your own due diligence, read the investment documents, including obtaining additional info, financial projections, opinions, legal or other investment advice.

CHECK PRE-IPO SHARES AVAILABLE VIA THIS LINK.