11 hours ago
Smarter Web Company becomes tech unicorn after stock surges six-fold in two weeks
Smarter Web Company has become the UK's latest tech unicorn, achieving a valuation of more than £1bn after its stock saw a six-fold increase in just two weeks.
The web design and online marketing company saw its stock climb 18.3 per cent by the end of the day's trading session on Friday to 500p, ending a week-long run of gains and bringing its total market cap to £1.1bn.
That has come off the back of the firm's new Bitcoin treasury policy, in which it invests all its spare cash into Bitcoin, emulating a model made famous four years ago after its adoption by US firm Microstrategy and its billionaire co-founder Mike Saylor. The company now holds 346.63 Bitcoin with a combined market value of £27.2m.
The stock surge means that Smarter Web Company has now become one of the 250 most valuable listed companies in the UK, meaning it would rank around the middle of the FTSE 250 index.
The Smarter Web Company, which offers web design, web development and online marketing services, has now raised funds five times since its IPO in April, following another £30m raise last week. It is already comfortably the most valuable constituent of the Aquis exchange.
'The company believes that Bitcoin forms a core part of the future of the global financial system and as the company explores opportunities through organic growth and corporate acquisitions is pioneering the adoption of a Bitcoin Treasury Policy into its strategy,' Smarter Web Company said.
The company's founder, ex Hargreaves Lansdown head of digital Andrew Webley, controls a 12.4 per cent stake in the business worth over £100m.
'By taking a pioneering approach to treasury management using digital assets, including Bitcoin, we believe we offer investors an excellent opportunity,' Webley said.
