Appital, the equity capital marketplace, today announced that Mike Wharton, a technologist with a background in equity capital markets, has been appointed as Head of Product. Mike will support the delivery of Appital’s vision to bring innovation and automation in equity capital markets, unlocking and uncovering liquidity for investors and enabling them to gain greater exposure to deal flow and execution opportunities. 

The appointment follows the latest round of funding which will accelerate the development of Appital’s technology infrastructure, its integration with market-leading financial institutions and technology vendors, and enable the expansion of their engineering team to support the delivery of their strategy. This process is already well underway with the recent announcements of Appital’s partnership with Turquoise and integration with FlexTrade. 

Mike Wharton brings considerable experience of equity capital markets, data engineering and analytics. Having started his career in investment banking at Credit Suisse and Numis, he has most recently worked at Kubrick Group as a technology consultant, leading teams which have worked with a variety of financial institutions, including brokerages, asset managers and insurers, to maximise value from their technology and data.

Pete Correia, CTO and co-founder of Appital, said: “I very much look forward to working with Mike to help define Appital’s technological offering. Building and delivering a product that meets the advanced needs of our clients is central to our goal of bringing technological innovation to equity capital markets.” 

Mike Wharton, Head of Product, commented: “Appital’s vision of better serving equity capital markets through technology is compelling, and I am delighted to be working with Mark, Pete and the rest of the team to make this vision a reality.”

Appital unlocks liquidity opportunities for buy-side firms, including in small and medium cap stocks, enabling them to execute large volumes, often in excess of five days of Average Day Volume (ADV), with minimal market impact or risk of price erosion. 

The Appital platform allows buy-side firms to gain greater exposure to deal flow opportunities they have not been able to access before, helping portfolio managers and heads of trading build a comprehensive picture of liquidity, including highly illiquid, small and mid-cap stocks.