I hope your month is off to a great start. It has been an extremely busy and fruitful period here at The Proof of Trust. Since our last update, we emerged as a stronger company even more resolute in our dedication to becoming the leading dispute resolution provider across the global commercial and government sectors.
Our executive team recently travelled extensively throughout the Middle East and Asia, negotiating and signing multiple contracts. Numerous pilots are being rolled out across the GCC and broader regions, and further afield, including the Americas and Australasia, which will demonstrate the power and capability of our globally patented technology.
We have bolstered our strong advisory team with exceptional business, technical, legal, and political experts. Phil Hogan, Lord Hill, Sir Robin Jacob, Brian O’Dwyer, Johan van den Arend Schmid and Richard Doherty have recognised The Proof of Trust’s immense capabilities and its crucial role in the future of international business and government security. In joining The Proof of Trust, they are helping us navigate the challenging political landscape and establish our highly reputable brand. We will be adding more incredible personnel to our executive advisory board as we prepare for our stock market listing in the coming months.
The Proof of Trust’s mission remains unchanged. Our goal of publicly listing is still firmly within our grasp. Although COVID has presented a great challenge for everyone, we are beginning to see resurgence across the board. Tech companies have fared particularly well, as they provide a platform to mitigate the adverse effects of a global pandemic, allowing people to continue with many aspects of their day to day lives. Stock markets are now flourishing. In the last 12 months, NASDAQ has grown a staggering 33%.
Technology has facilitated the ferocious stock market rebound from the COVID sell-off, defying expectations that an economic downturn would bring an end to investors’ love affair with fast-growing but higher-priced stocks. Stock markets now rely on tech listings due to their ability to resist global challenges, including geopolitical struggles and pandemics, which can be seen in the surge in tech prices since 2020. Nasdaq also held the most significant direct listing among all exchanges in 2021, welcoming Coinbase with $65 billion in market cap.
As in the US, tech companies also constitute the most exciting upcoming listings in the UK. London’s financial district is demonstrating immense post-pandemic resilience. UK stock market listings raised more funds in the first quarter of 2021 than in any other opening quarter since 2007, according to consultants from EY.
Some £5.6 billion ($7.7 billion) was raised in the first quarter from 12 IPOs on the primary London market and eight IPOs on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) for smaller companies. That constituted more than half the £9.4 billion ($12.9 billion) raised in the whole of 2020, EY said.
Post-pandemic UK tech exports are set to surge to more than £31bn, making the UK the fifth-biggest digital exporter in the world. Thanks in part to tech listings, UK GDP is set to bounce back to its pre-COVID level towards the end of 2021, a year earlier than the previous CBI forecast (in December 2020) expected.
The Proof of Trust is ideally placed to join the other outstanding tech IPOs and benefit from the global economic growth. Our outlook for the future is bright, thanks to our unparalleled technology arriving at a pivotal time.
We appreciate the continued support and belief and look forward to sharing further significant announcements in the coming weeks.
PD O’Brien