An investing app backed by the likes of Serena Williams and billionaire Facebook investor Peter Thiel has shut for business in the UK after reporting widening losses, UKTN can reveal.
Soho-based Shares, which launched in the UK in May 2022 and completed a $40m funding round later that year, said it took the decision to withdraw UK operations in June. The company’s most recent accounts, published this week, show it posted losses of £16.1 million in 2023, an increase of 23% compared to the previous year.
The UK company had 31 full-time employees, down from 43 the previous year.
“After careful consideration, Shares has decided to focus on the French and EU markets and therefore to stop its activity in the UK as of August 30th 2024,” the company said in a statement on its website.
“The decision was taken by the management and announced to the employees that the company would cease business and be wound up on a fully solvent basis,” the firm added in its published accounts.
Shares closed its $40m funding round in October 2022, as it eyed a period of expansion across the UK and the EU. The round was led by billionaire Peter Thiel’s Valar Fund, and included the Williams sisters as shareholders, with the iconic tennis duo also serving as brand ambassadors.
Serena Williams said at the time: “The first time I heard about Shares I was blown away by the vision. It is rare to find companies that are equally as passionate about opening up opportunities and breaking barriers to entry that have prevented traditional spaces like investment from being totally inclusive.”
The announcement makes Shares the latest sports star-backed investment app to shut down its operations, after Gather, a firm backed by Arsenal star Jorginho, entered administration earlier this year.
Shares funder Benjamin Chemla previously told the Evening Standard: “Most of our users are quite new to investing so they haven’t lost money – 60% are below 25 years old.”
“For them it’s actually the perfect occasion to begin investing – our target audience is quite excited about this volatility and see a lot of opportunity.”