Crypto investment startup Stacked raises $35m to build out regulated products for retail crypto investors

Crypto investment startup Stacked raises $35m to build out regulated products for retail crypto investors

Published: 21-12-2021 12:46:00 | By: Pie Kamau | hits: 3559 | Tags:

Stacked, a crypto-investing software that allows users to manage assets and invest in pre-built portfolios and strategies, announced it has raised $35 million Series A funding round led by Alameda Research, a core partner of FTX, and Mirana Ventures, venture partner of Bybit and BitDAO, to double its 40-person team and build out its suite of retail-friendly crypto portfolios and automated lending products.

The oversubscribed funding round also included investors such as, Fidelity International Strategic Ventures (FISV), a dedicated venture capital team within Fidelity International set up to invest in fintech; DRW Venture Capital; Alumni Ventures and Jump Capital.

Joel Birch, Co-founder and CEO, Stacked: "We're moving beyond just a 'cool crypto portfolio manager' to a true, regulated digital asset wealth advisor. Trading crypto isn't a great experience for the average person, and most people have no idea what to invest in. Imagine simply taking a risk assessment and having an automatically-managed portfolio created for you instantly. Investors need more passive tools, and Stacked is bringing that to them."

The company will release curated risk-adjusted portfolios for non-accredited investors early next year, which will make this the first product of its kind on the market.

Brian Lee, Partner, Alameda Research Ventures: "Since we began investing in Stacked over a year ago, the team has proven they have the ability to provide a unique and simple investment experience for retail investors. The ability to give users some guardrails when building a portfolio, while also allowing that user to custody funds on their preferred exchange is something investors really need. Now with this added focus on regulation, Stacked is in the best position to own the passive investment market in crypto." 

Within a few months of Stacked launching in April 2020, it was already generating a few-hundred million dollars per month in market order volume from a few thousand users. The company, which has now raised total funding of about $40 million since its launch last year, has automated over $10 billion worth of transactions for tens of thousands of new investors so far in 2021.

David Toh, Partner, Mirana Ventures: "Stacked is in a perfect position to not only capture the automated crypto trading demand but also be the first to truly offer curated investment products to crypto users." 

Using the company's platform, users can access pre-built stacks from leading hedge funds, indices and top asset managers and get investment advice based on their financial goals. Today, over $100 million in user funds are connected to Stacked's smart portfolio manager, with the goal of growing assets under management (AUM) to more than $1 billion in 2022. The company says experienced and new traders alike can easily put their portfolio on autopilot by connecting their favorite crypto exchange to Stacked.

Since receiving approval from the SEC to operate as an RIA, Stacked is now one of the only crypto native companies registered with federal and/or state regulatory agencies to provide investment advice.

Stephen Beavis, Co-founder and COO, Stacked: "We registered with the SEC so that we could truly provide the easiest and safest way to have risk-appropriate investment exposure to crypto, in just a few minutes, with no prior experience". 

Today, Stacked is a web-based application with plans to go fully mobile within six months. In 2022, the company plans to grow its 40-person team to over 100 employees.

Alan Eschweiler, Chief Revenue Officer, Stacked: "It's no accident that two of the largest exchanges in the crypto space co-lead this investment round. These exchanges, and others, have been key partners of ours since day one, introducing their users to more automated tools for investing. We're excited to add fuel to the explosive growth the company has experienced in 2021."

The other investors in the Series A round also included previous seed round lead Motivate Ventures; in addition to CoinFund; Starting Line; Avon Ventures; Linkpad Fund; Chicago Trading Capital; Hyde Park Angels; Bitstamp; Cadenza Ventures; Launch Code Capital; CEO and Founder of M1 Finance, Brian Barnes; and several notable individual investors.

www.stackedinvest.com