Republic (investment platform)

OpenDeal Inc. was formed in Delaware on April 12, 2016 and filed a funding portal registration with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 25, listing the website opendeal.co, with Kendrick Nguyen as chief executive and chief compliance officer and Paul Menchov as chief technology officer.⁠[1]

On May 12, 2016, Republic was unveiled as an AngelList offshoot that would let non-accredited investors back small and medium-sized businesses once the JOBS Act Title III crowdfunding rules took effect on May 16. Its co-founders, Kendrick Nguyen and Paul Menchov, both came from AngelList.⁠[2]

Kendrick Nguyen recalled that the platform launched in July 2016 under the name “Republic”, suggested by Paul Menchov; it charged successful campaigns a 6% cash commission plus a small convertible-note stake.⁠[3]

A registration amendment of August 1, 2016 changed the website to republic.co and listed Nguyen and Menchov each as owners of 25% to less than 50%.⁠[4]

In December 2017, OpenDeal Inc. raised $2.1 million from 18 investors through Simple Agreements for Future Equity (SAFEs); the filing listed Kevin Laws among its directors.⁠[5]

In 2018, BinanceBinanceBinance is a global digital asset trading and multi-asset financial platform launched in 2017 and co-founded by Changpeng Zhao and Yi He. Its business has expanded from spot trading to derivatives, wallets, payments, a public blockchain ecosystem, market data, traditional securities, and artificial intelligence interfaces; its history also includes security incidents, regulatory enforcement across multiple jurisdictions, a 2023 U.S. criminal settlement, and subsequent compliance restructuring.Open the full entry Labs and NEO’s NGC ECO Fund co-led a $12 million round in Republic.⁠[6]

A Form D filed that June showed the equity offering’s first sale on June 14 and $10,449,700 sold to 12 investors.⁠[7]

The subsidiary OpenDeal Portal LLC was formed on August 16, 2018 and registered with the SEC as a funding portal on September 4, doing business as Republic.⁠[8]

A filing of December 11, 2018 stated that OpenDeal Portal LLC was taking over the parent’s funding portal operations under Rule 400(c)(2) of Regulation Crowdfunding and that OpenDeal Inc. would cease to operate as a funding portal.⁠[9]

From January 2019, Lee Charles (Chuck) Pettid served as chief executive of OpenDeal Portal LLC and Maxwell Rich as chief compliance officer.⁠[10]

Republic Block LLC, a subsidiary formed in 2019, filed a Form D that December showing $175,000 of rights to acquire securities sold to four investors, signed by Kendrick Nguyen as manager.⁠[11]

On April 17, 2020, Republic announced the acquisition of the game crowdfunding platform Fig, without disclosing terms; Fig chief executive Justin Bailey joined Republic’s board to help with the integration.⁠[12]

Fig had funded more than 40 games since 2015; Republic said its investment volume in the second half of 2019 was more than eight times that of 2018.⁠[13]

In July 2020, Republic Core LLC, renamed from Republic Block, filed a Form D for an $11 million offering of Republic Notes under Rule 506(c).⁠[14]

On November 16, 2020, Republic announced the acquisition of NextSeed, a Houston-focused local business investment platform and its third acquisition of the year after Fig and Compound; NextSeed chief executive Youngro Lee became Republic’s chief operating officer.⁠[15]

Republic planned to use the deal to add small-business financing, expand into Texas and keep the NextSeed brand, with its broker-dealer NextSeed Securities operating separately from the Republic funding portal.⁠[16]

In December 2020, Republic raised $16 million by selling Republic Notes, which pay holders when companies that raised funding on Republic exit.⁠[6]

In March 2021, Republic closed a $36 million Series A led by Galaxy Interactive, with Tribe Capital, Motley Fool Ventures and Broadhaven Ventures participating and Prosus Ventures making a strategic investment through Republic Notes.⁠[17]

Republic lets non-accredited investors back startups with as little as $10, and investment on the platform had grown fourfold over the previous year.⁠[18]

The Form D showed a first sale on March 15 and $45,240,154 sold to 61 investors.⁠[19]

In October 2021, Republic closed a $150 million Series B preferred stock round led by Valor Equity Partners; the company said it had facilitated more than $700 million in investments, supported over 600 companies and had more than one million users across 100 countries.⁠[20]

New investors included Pillar VC and the hedge funds Brevan Howard and Atreides, and Valor partner Vivek Pattipati joined the board. A week earlier, Republic Capital had launched a $60 million crypto-focused seed fund.⁠[21]

The Form D showed a first sale on October 15 and $99,104,306 sold to 12 investors as of October 22.⁠[22]

Republic’s ecosystem then also included Republic Realm, which invested in the metaverse and NFTs, and more than 30,000 of its investors were Vietnamese.⁠[23]

In November 2021, Universal Music Group sued OpenDeal Inc. in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York for trademark infringement, unfair competition and false designation of origin.⁠[24]

In December 2021, Republic agreed to acquire the British equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs for about $100 million; Seedrs, founded in 2012 by Jeff Lynn and Carlos Silva, describes itself as the world’s first regulated securities crowdfunding platform. Davidson Kempner was to take a 30% stake in Seedrs as part of the deal.⁠[25]

The deal was structured as an acquisition of all share capital of Seedrs Limited via a scheme of arrangement.⁠[26]

The deal, worth about £75 million, required approval from the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Seedrs shareholders.⁠[27]

In July 2022, the court denied UMG’s motion for a preliminary injunction; in late 2022, Opulous, a former Republic client, was added as a co-defendant, and the parties later extended discovery pending settlement talks.⁠[24]

On September 1, 2022, Republic completed its acquisition of Seedrs, giving the combined business 2.5 million users and 1,370 active portfolio companies; Seedrs chief executive Jeff Kelisky also became an executive vice president of Republic leading global retail.⁠[28]

Seedrs kept its brand as the European part of Republic’s retail business; the companies expected 600 deals and $300 million in net investment through the combined platform in 2022.⁠[29]

On November 15, 2022, the Regional Court of Hamburg granted Trade Republic Bank GmbH a preliminary injunction barring Republic’s parent from using “REPUBLIC” and related marks in the EU; Republic’s parent agreed in February 2023 not to oppose it.⁠[30]

On February 7, 2023, Republic Core LLC launched a Regulation Crowdfunding offering of Republic Notes through OpenDeal Portal LLC with a $3 million maximum, for which the portal took no compensation.⁠[31]

The offering closed on May 1, 2023 with investment commitments of $2,017,082.16.⁠[32]

On June 15, 2023, Republic’s parent bought shares carrying 9.5% of the voting interest in The INX Digital Company.⁠[33]

On June 26, 2024, co-founder Paul Menchov rejoined Republic’s leadership team; the company said he is also a co-founder of CoinList and was head of venture infrastructure at AngelList.⁠[34]

On April 3, 2025, OpenDeal Inc. announced a US$60 million deal to acquire all remaining common shares of the Canadian-listed The INX Digital Company.⁠[35]

As of April 2025, Republic’s parent still described the Universal Music Group trademark suit as ongoing.⁠[33]

In June 2025, Republic introduced Mirror Tokens tied to the performance of leading private companies; the first, rSpaceX, was designed to reflect SpaceXSpaceXSpaceX is a company founded by Elon Musk in 2002 whose businesses include space transportation, Starlink satellite communications and artificial intelligence. It went public in 2026 under the ticker SPCX.Open the full entry’s share price performance, with a $50 minimum.⁠[36]

In August 2025, INX said the acquisition had received shareholder, court and FINRA approval.⁠[37]

On October 8, 2025, Republic announced plans to tokenize part of Animoca Brands’ equity and issue it on SolanaSolanaSolana is a proof-of-stake (PoS) public blockchain designed for high throughput and low latency, with SOL as its native token; it was developed by Solana Labs and launched Mainnet Beta in March 2020. It is known for design choices such as its Proof of History clock and parallel execution, suffered several network-wide outages in its early years, and became one of the crypto industry’s focal points in events including the FTX collapse, U.S. SEC lawsuits, and the listing of Solana ETFs.Open the full entry.⁠[38]

On November 10, 2025, INX completed its plan of arrangement with Republic; former shareholders received US$0.1328 in cash per share plus a contingent value right, and INX shares were delisted from Cboe Canada.⁠[39]

Republic said the two-year effort combined its US and UK presence with INX’s regulated trading platform.⁠[40]

In March 2026, Hamilton Lane became a strategic investor in Republic; in April, Republic issued pre-IPO tokens for Bitget.⁠[41]

Republic Core posted revenue of $2,821,412 and a net loss of $14,715,628 for fiscal 2025.⁠[30]

Republic is led by co-founder and co-CEO Kendrick Nguyen and co-CEO Andrew Durgee.⁠[41]

The broker-dealer OpenDeal Broker LLC is registered in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, has used names including NextSeed Securities, and has no regulatory disclosures.⁠[42]

In June 2025, OpenDeal Portal LLC updated its control persons to OpenDeal Inc., Matthew Melbourne and chief compliance officer Edward Kuhnel.⁠[43]

Seedrs Limited, the operator of Seedrs, is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority.⁠[44]

Republic: Official website: https://republic.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[15]

X: Official account: https://x.com/joinrepublic (opens in a new window)⁠[41]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Official account: https://www.linkedin.com/company/republic.co (opens in a new window)⁠[41]

Seedrs: Official website: https://www.seedrs.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[44]