SAPHYRE
behind it because they know that as they make this more public and people become more familiar and comfortable with the Saphyre brand that they get the network effect , the big benefit .”
The Series A announcement was a big part of this reputation building and a process that took five hard years . Gabino and Stephen admit there were times when they considered cashing out , when the road became particularly tough . When you have friends and family among the initial investors , the pressure intensifies .
It was tempting to work with people who had different visions or ideas , who wanted to control them , or simply wanted the technology for their own purposes , but they stuck with the original vision . They met with more than 200 lead investors before finally settling on HCAP Partners . That Series A round of US $ 18.7mn was announced in March 2022 , led by HCAP Partners , with JP Morgan and BNP Paribas participating .
“ In any startup endeavour , it ' s very easy to get enamoured by these big institutions ,” recalls Gabino . “ This is not just in finance . They may back you but then you may not get the profitability you ' re looking for to grow your company . Ultimately , they want to minimise their costs and look at their upside , so there ' s a fine balance on how you manage that ; playing the long game and finding ways to fund yourselves in the short term until you can get to more like a true Series A like we did .
“ I knew if I gave this up and just sold it off then this whole vision would never be fulfilled .”
After the Series A , Saphyre got to work sourcing a new Chief Operating Officer , and secured Raymond Shivers – formerly of BlackRock and with more than 20 years of experience in finance . It helped that Saphyre does a lot of work with BlackRock so Shivers already had knowledge of the business and the brothers .
“ Having him as our COO is extremely beneficial for us and powerful moving forward as we look to scale and grow our company ,” says Stephen . “ He understands
“ Playing the long game and finding ways to fund yourselves in the short term until you can get to a true Series A like we did is a challenge ”
GABINO ROCHE CEO , SAPHYRE
36 June 2022