Ledgy

# Ledgy: Democratizing Equity Management for the Global Workforce

Ledgy is a European equity and share plan management platform that has become a critical infrastructure layer for scaling companies navigating the complexities of global talent compensation.[1][4] Founded in 2017 by Yoko Spirig, Ben Brandt, and Timo Horstschaefer—three physicists from ETH Zürich—the company transforms how organizations manage equity ownership across borders, automating what was traditionally a manual, error-prone process trapped in spreadsheets.[4] With backing from tier-one investors including Sequoia Capital and New Enterprise Associates, and a recent $22 million Series B funding round, Ledgy has positioned itself as the go-to solution for companies seeking to build truly global teams while maintaining compliance and transparency.[1] The company now serves thousands of organizations across Europe and beyond from offices in Zürich, London, and Berlin, with a team of 70 people.[4]

High-Level Overview

The Problem & Solution

Ledgy solves a deceptively complex problem: making equity work for companies and people. When the founders started the company, European startups were increasingly setting up equity plans to incentivize team members, yet the process remained confusing, labor-intensive, and opaque.[4] Equity ownership stakes were difficult to understand, compliance was fragmented across jurisdictions, and managing multiple country-specific plans simultaneously was nearly impossible. Ledgy moved equity management from spreadsheets onto a unified platform that provides all stakeholders—founders, investors, and employees—with visibility and insight into what their equity actually means.[1]

Who It Serves & Impact

Ledgy primarily serves scaling European technology companies with global ambitions, though its customer base now spans the world.[4] The platform enables HR and People Teams to confidently hire cross-border talent, relieves financial teams of complex administrative burdens, and ensures compliance across different regulatory regimes.[1] By automating the creation, sharing, signing, and storage of equity contracts, Ledgy has become essential infrastructure for companies navigating Europe's complex jurisdictional landscape—and increasingly, for those preparing for public markets.[5]

Origin Story

The Founding Moment

The genesis of Ledgy emerged from a specific observation: in 2017, European companies were increasingly using equity as a tool to attract and retain talent, but the infrastructure to manage it effectively didn't exist.[4] Yoko Spirig, Ben Brandt, and Timo Horstschaefer, who had studied physics together at ETH Zürich, recognized that despite good intentions, companies were struggling to make equity work. The complexity was multifaceted—equity plans were confusing to manage, employees didn't understand what their ownership stakes meant, and the administrative overhead was crushing.[4]

Early Traction & Evolution

The founders started by focusing on private companies in Europe, recognizing that equity had incredible power to align teams behind a common goal, but getting it to work felt like "moving mountains."[4] As their customer base grew to include some of the most innovative technology businesses in the world, Ledgy listened closely to customer feedback about future ambitions. This led to a natural evolution: if the company's mission was to empower every team globally with equity, it needed to extend beyond private markets into public company territory.[2] By 2024, Ledgy had announced plans to build capabilities for listed companies, recognizing that many of its customers would eventually pursue IPOs and needed support through that transition and beyond.[6]

Core Differentiators

Multi-Jurisdictional Compliance Engine

Ledgy's foundational strength lies in its ability to run different country-specific equity plans side-by-side, treating all stakeholders fairly while maintaining a single source of truth.[1] This is particularly valuable in Europe, where regulatory fragmentation across nations creates significant friction. The platform automates compliance and risk reduction while providing transparency and visibility into equity management—critical for companies operating across multiple legal regimes.[1]

Automation & Operational Relief

The platform eliminates labor-intensive manual processes by automating contract creation, sharing, signing, and storage for each new equity grant.[1] This frees financial and HR teams from administrative drudgery, allowing them to focus on strategic talent decisions rather than paperwork management.

Expansion into Public Markets

Unlike competitors focused solely on private equity administration, Ledgy is building dedicated capabilities for public companies.[5] The company has hired experienced talent—including Svein and Peter, who bring combined 30 years of experience from incumbents like Computershare and Shareworks—to develop a modern alternative to dated public company infrastructure.[5] The product roadmap focuses on three pillars: compliance, automation, and new plan types, with plans to support broad-based Employee Share Purchase Plans (ESPPs), UK-specific plans like SIP and SAYE, and seamless share settlement through broker and paying agent integrations.[5]

Global Flexibility

Ledgy is designed so companies don't have to choose their stock exchange based on infrastructure limitations. The platform is flexible and configurable enough to support listings in London, Amsterdam, New York, or Stockholm—combining modern software with serious compliance and risk management focus.[2]

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Riding the European Tech Wave

Ledgy sits at the intersection of two powerful trends: the rise of European technology companies with global ambitions, and the maturation of the European startup ecosystem.[3] As more European companies scale and achieve success, the need for world-class infrastructure to compete with US tech giants becomes acute. Equity management is a foundational piece of that infrastructure—without it, companies struggle to attract and retain international talent, which is essential for global competitiveness.[1]

Ecosystem Catalyst

The company is actively contributing to the European tech ecosystem's growth. By making equity work effectively, Ledgy enables successful founders and employees to recycle capital back into the next generation of startups.[3] This is evident in its customer-to-investor pipeline: wefox founders Julian Teicke and Fabian Wesemann, who used Ledgy as customers, became angel investors in the company's Series B round—a tangible example of ecosystem momentum.[3]

IPO Infrastructure Gap

As European companies increasingly pursue public listings, they face a critical infrastructure gap. Dated systems designed around US protocols fail to serve European companies effectively, and public company equity administration remains surprisingly antiquated.[2] Ledgy's entry into this space addresses a genuine market need at a pivotal moment when European tech companies are reaching scale and considering public markets.

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Ledgy has evolved from a clever solution to a European problem into a foundational infrastructure company with global ambitions. The company's decision to build for public markets is strategically sound—it extends the lifetime value of customer relationships and positions Ledgy as the equity management partner for companies at every stage of their journey, from foundation through IPO and beyond.[6]

The near-term focus will be on deepening public company capabilities, particularly around broad-based equity plans and regional compliance requirements.[5] Longer term, Ledgy's influence will likely grow as European tech companies continue maturing and as the company expands its geographic footprint beyond Europe.

What makes Ledgy particularly compelling is that it's solving a problem that becomes more acute as companies scale. Early-stage startups can manage equity informally; scaling companies cannot. This creates a natural expansion opportunity as the European tech ecosystem matures. If Ledgy can establish itself as the standard for equity management across the company lifecycle—private to public—it will have built a defensible, high-value business that benefits from network effects and switching costs. The real test will be execution in the public markets segment, where incumbents are entrenched but vulnerable to disruption by modern, compliant alternatives.