CapTable by Coronation
Shareholder & Investment Management
A web-based B2B software that allows startups to manage and track equity growth by providing equity information—total volume of shares, share value, and ownership of all shareholders—for more informed capital raising and financing decisions.
Role
Product Designer / Scrum Master
Timeline
12 months
Platform
Web Application
Team
Product manager, UX/UI designer, software developers, QA tester, business analysts
01 — OVERVIEW
Project Overview
Recently, African start-ups have been attracting local and foreign VC funding. However, multiple fundraising rounds can mess up their capitalisation tables, leaving companies at risk. Hence, it is crucial for founders to understand who owns what at each stage of the business. Capitalization Table software automates equity management by organizing and tracking changes in equity structure, informing financing decisions.
CapTable by Coronation is a web-based software that allows startups to manage and track equity growth by availing them with equity information of their company: total volume of shares, the value of their shares, and the equity ownership of all shareholders, for more informed capital raising and financing decisions. The software also monitors changes in the shareholding structure with respect to investments and changes in valuation.
Client: Coronation Registrars. The MVP project lasted about a year before launch. I was the sole Product Designer and also worked as Scrum Master, managing daily stand-ups and tasks. I worked with the Product Manager and Engineering Manager to break tasks on the Jira board and define acceptance criteria. My role included: Product & Market research, User flow, Visual design, Hi-fi prototype, User testing, Design hand-off.
02 — PROBLEM STATEMENT
The Problem
The majority of equity throughout Africa is still stored, tracked, and updated using paper certificates, manual processes, and fragmented databases. This could lead to discrepancy and many other problems:
- Manual tracking can lead to errors and inconsistencies, resulting in inaccurate data on ownership and valuations.
- Managing equity ownership manually can be time-consuming and take away from critical business operations.
- Lack of a real-time cap table solution can lead to a lack of transparency among stakeholders.
- Making informed decisions about funding rounds, equity grants, or potential exits becomes challenging without a cap table solution.
- Keeping accurate records is essential for regulatory compliance, and a cap table solution can help.
- Managing equity ownership becomes more challenging as startups grow, and a scalable cap table solution is necessary for growth.
"How might we create a capitalisation table platform that is easy to use and serves as a single source of truth for founders and startups?"
03 — GOALS & SUCCESS METRICS
Design Goals
- Ownership Clarity: Clearly show ownership percentages of founders, investors, employees, and stakeholders to avoid confusion or disputes. Create a platform that allows founders and startups to get a clearer picture of ownership within their company.
- Equity Tracking: Record all equity-related activities, ensuring accurate and up-to-date ownership data.
- Transparency: Provide a real-time cap table solution to foster transparency among stakeholders.
- Scalability: Build a scalable solution necessary to aid growth as startups scale.
We started with requirement gathering through meetings with internal stakeholders, mapping out what we needed to do and giving the process a defined direction. Most startups in Africa monitored their equity through manual processes and spreadsheets; many weren't conversant with cap table solutions. We took advantage of this opportunity to create a platform that was easy to use and served as a single source of truth, with extra features for valuations and modelling at an affordable price.
We conducted thorough research on the cap table market globally—Carta, Eqvista, Ledgy—analysing trends and opportunities. We attended tech events to gather feedback from target users, speaking to tech founders and financial experts. The most common insight was the need for creating a financial model in a simple and straightforward way.
User research presented a new challenge: designing an intuitive approach to financial modelling. We contacted a Financial Modelling Expert to break down the processes. As Product Designer, I had to figure out an intuitive way to capture and represent financial modelling data within a week for the next sprint. I used sketches and an Excel document from the expert as my guideline.
The design phase followed an iterative process with usability testing. We ran user acceptance tests with key stakeholders, then tested the Financial Modelling prototype with financial experts at African Fintech Foundry, founders, and within the team. The interface uses Lato typography and is consistent with Coronation's B2B visual identity.
"Our platform is easy to use overall, and the sign up process is simple and straightforward"
"The interface is intuitive and easy to understand and navigate"
"The Financial Modelling design was done, comments on the experience were really encouraging"
A number of founders were eager to use our Financial modelling and Scenario modelling feature. However, most founders didn't find a lot of the existing features useful, and there were concerns around admin privileges and existing competitors. These findings informed our roadmap for iteration.
How do we give founders a clearer picture of ownership?
Solution
Clear ownership display showing percentages for founders, investors, employees, and stakeholders with real-time updates to avoid disputes.
How do we record and track all equity-related activities?
Solution
Comprehensive equity tracking that records all activities and ensures accurate, up-to-date ownership data as the single source of truth.
How do we make financial modelling accessible to non-experts?
Solution
Intuitive financial modelling and scenario modelling features designed through collaboration with a Financial Modelling Expert, validated with founders and experts at African Fintech Foundry.
How do we scale with growing startups?
Solution
A scalable cap table solution that grows with the startup, handling multiple fundraising rounds and changes in valuation and shareholding structure.
