For all of the advances in technology and all of the investing going on, it’s hard to believe that the alternative investment ecosystem hasn’t changed all that much in 20 years.
Artivest is changing that.
Artivest brings wider access to leading private funds, including private equity and hedge funds and they do it by making the entire process more efficient for fund managers, financial advisors, and individual investors, and powering the funds with technology that streamlines workflows, while putting the bandwidth where it belong: into the hands fund managers, where they can have impactful interactions with investors.
And there’s nothing quite like a seamless experience for all parties.
CEO James Waldinger explains how Artivest is changing the game.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
We’ve raised $15 million in our Series A financing round led by KKR, with participation from RRE Ventures, Peter Thiel, Nyca Partners, Anthemis Group, FinTech Collective, and other valued angel investors and venture firms.
Tell us about your service.
Artivest is a one-of-a kind technology platform that simplifies investing in private funds for the financial advisor, the individual investor and the alternative investment manager.
For the investor, Artivest connects a wider audience to world-class private equity and hedge funds.
For funds, Artivest provides a cost-efficient technology solution to raise and manage more capital from a wider base.
What inspired you to start the company?
Even rocket scientists think investing is rocket science. It’s high time to deliver a wide audience easier, intuitive access to the best that money managers have to offer…and let the best money managers focus on what they do best.
How is it different?
Artivest brings investment minimums down from the millions to the thousands. Our scalable platform helps fund managers, financial advisors, and individual investors manage the entire process online.
Underneath our technology is a rigorous compliance and privacy process. These processes give us access to leading funds. We are a FINRA member registered broker-dealer, with compliance and security ingrained at every step of our business.
What market you are targeting and how big is it?
We offer access to leading private equity and hedge funds to financial advisors and individual investors.Our target market of individual investors has over $10+ trillion of investable assets.
Tell us about the Artivest due diligence process.
Funds featured on the Artivest Platform must go through the Artivest Due Diligence Process, which consists of:
- Evaluation of manager’s investment portfolio and business
- Review fund materials to understand and evaluate investment objectives, philosophy, process and fee structure
- Meeting with team
- Evaluate quality of management including pedigree, incentive structure and reputation for talent and integrity
- Review past performance
- Analyze prior funds’ performance vs. benchmarks
- Legal review
Together with counsel, we conduct comprehensive review of a fund’s offering and legal documentation
- Artivest Investment Committee Approval
- Present fund brochure to Investment Committee summarizing fund strategy, market, team, track record, and risks
- Unanimous Investment Committee approval required before final decision to feature fund on Artivest Platform
What’s your business model?
There are no fees to investors who sign up, nor are there fees to funds to be offered.
Market competitive fees are only charged based on actual investments as is typical in the industry.
What was the funding process like?
It was great. Our investors have the same vision as we do – bringing a wider audience of investorsaccess to leading funds.
KKR was one of the first funds on our platform. Their industry insights and operational experience were extremely valuable in helping us refine our service. Their belief in increasing access to world-class funds to advisors and investorsis what lead them to us in the first place. The process from there to an investment in our round flowed naturally. We began with a shared vision and shared values (same as with our other backers) and went from there.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
Raising capital while running a start-up is both challenging and inspiring. It’s inspiring to find others who share in your vision and can help you achieve this vision but at the same time it takes time away from running the business, which can be frustrating as a small team.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
Market opportunity, cohesive and capable team, shared vision.
In addition to our investors’shared vision of providing wider access to funds,Artivestis built by a team with deep experience in the private fund space. Many people on our team joined Artivest from the private fund space because they saw the growing demand for alternatives by the retail investor. Finally, ourearly investors have a long history of backing and working with successful financial service companies, which gave confidence to investors into the latest round.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
We are focused on expanding our offering of funds and reaching out to even more advisors and investors.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Hard to give advice, as we’re still learning a lot ourselves every day—this is our Series A – it’s just the beginning. We’ll come back to you on this when we’re older and wiser!
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
The additional capital from our investors will be used to expand our platform and expand our reach by building our team, especially our tech, sales, and operational efforts. Every improvement we make in our platform makes it easier for funds, advisors, and investors to access these funds.
What’s your favorite NY bar, when you need to kick back and relax?
Belgian Beer Café. It’s nearby, and the perfect addition to the growing tech community in Flatiron.
