Since its launch in 1995, over 2,500 companies have joined AIM ? raising more than ￡34bn in the process, both through initial public offerings (IPOs) and further capital raisings. This capital has helped AIM-quoted companies of all kinds to fund their development and pursue their ambitions. Many companies have made the transition to the Exchange's Main Market following their success and positive experience on AIM.When the London Stock Exchange created AIM, the objective was to offer smaller companies ? from any country and any industry sector ? the chance to raise capital on a market with a pragmatic and appropriate approach to regulation. With this in mind, AIM was designed to be a highly flexible public market offering many unique attributes both for companies and investors.

To join AIM, companies do not need a particular financial track record or trading history. There is also no minimum requirement in terms of size or number of shareholders. This more flexible approach reflects the fact that AIM was designed specifically for smaller growing companies, and has helped AIM to become the leading global growth market.

AIM has a large, diverse and committed community of stakeholders, made up of various market participants. Specialist advisers are crucial to the market’s success, and range from dedicated Nominated Advisers (Nomads) who play a central role in the life of an AIM company, through to lawyers, accountants and brokers. Other important participants and stakeholders include investors, public relations (PR) and investor relations (IR) agencies who help companies join the market and make the most of their AIM quotation, and market committees and publishers focused on AIM and its companies.