NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–iCapital Network1 the leading global financial technology platform driving access and efficiency in alternative investing for the asset and wealth management industries, today announced it has raised US$440 million to fuel continued client success. Temasek led the fundraising round, joined by new investors Owl Rock, a division of Blue Owl Capital; MSD Partners, L.P.; Noah Holdings and Golub Capital. Additional commitments came from existing investors WestCap, Ping An Voyager Partners, Blackstone, UBS, Pivot Investment Partners, BNY Mellon, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Today, the company’s valuation is approximately $4.0 billion.
The company will use the proceeds from the capital raise to enhance its platform technology, expand the breadth of strategies and product types on its alternative investment menu, and pursue strategic acquisitions that will broaden its client capabilities.
“We are honored to welcome such a renowned group of strategic investors into our latest fundraising round,” said Lawrence Calcano, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of iCapital Network. “Their conviction in iCapital validates the achievements of our team to date and our ongoing efforts to expand alternative investing opportunities to wealth advisors and their clients in the years ahead.
“iCapital will deploy the proceeds from this fundraising to the direct benefit of our clients,” Mr. Calcano continued. “We’re investing in growing our talented team, developing market-leading technology solutions, and providing a comprehensive set of educational tools. As always, we are evaluating the most advantageous acquisition opportunities to broaden our capabilities for wealth managers, asset managers and banks globally.”
iCapital’s growth is driven by a commitment from financial advisors to provide a diverse set of quality private market investment opportunities to meet accelerating appetite from their high-net-worth clients. This increased demand for alternatives is driven by the limited opportunities of shrinking public markets, a prolonged low interest rate environment, and investors’ desire for an expanded set of investment opportunities to provide portfolio diversification and counterbalance persistent market volatility. A recent joint 2021 wealth and asset management report from Morgan Stanley and Oliver Wyman, Competing for Growth, projects that additional HNW allocations to private market investing opportunities will represent around US$1.5 trillion of assets under management by 2025.
“We are pleased to have the opportunity to deepen our partnership with iCapital,” said Todd Myers, Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone’s Private Wealth Solutions group. “Blackstone is committed to bringing institutional-quality private market solutions to individual investors. Our shared vision with iCapital, centered around providing an outstanding advisor and client experience alongside alternatives education, has enabled us to deliver our industry-leading capabilities to more individual investors across the globe.”
“Many high-net-worth investors remain under-allocated to alternative investments relative to institutional investors, but are increasingly exploring the larger role these strategies can play in portfolio construction,” said Gregg Lemkau, Chief Executive Officer of MSD Partners, L.P. “The market opportunity to open up access and digitize alternative investing in this space is substantial, and we believe iCapital is extremely well positioned to capture it.”
“After more than 10 years of working together, the WestCap team is excited to scale our equity position in iCapital, the dominant digital alternative investment distribution platform,” added Laurence Tosi, Founder and Managing Partner of WestCap and former CFO of Blackstone and Airbnb. “iCapital provides unmatched support to advisors seeking to furnish their high-net-worth investors with opportunities to meet their portfolio goals by offering access to a broad array of quality alternatives managers and strategies.”
Since announcing its last fundraising round in March 2020, which the company ultimately closed at $162 million, iCapital has undergone a period of transformative growth. It has grown platform assets from $46 billion to more than $80 billion, doubled its headcount, made five acquisitions, expanded its technology and education capabilities, launched tailored offerings for accredited investors, widened its international footprint, and launched more than 45 new white labels with partners across the globe.
Today’s announcement further expands a consortium of the largest and most influential firms in the wealth and asset management industries aligned with iCapital’s development of an industry standard technology solution for alternative investments. In addition to those participating in this investment round, iCapital’s strategic partners and investors include BlackRock, The Carlyle Group, Credit Suisse, JPMorgan Chase, KKR, Affiliated Managers Group and Hamilton Lane.
iCapital’s latest investors have all indicated their intent to expand their use of iCapital’s market-leading technology to facilitate their respective private market activities serving the high-net-worth wealth management marketplace.
iCapital anticipates a modest second closing of the round in the next month that will include new strategic investors in addition to further commitments from the company’s existing investors.
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC served as placement agent on the transaction. Terms of the capital raise were not disclosed.
About iCapital Network
Founded in 2013 in NYC, iCapital Network is the leading global financial technology company powering the world’s alternative investment marketplace. It has transformed the way the wealth management, banking, and asset management industries facilitate access to private markets investments for their high-net-worth clients by providing intuitive, end-to-end technology and service solutions. Wealth management firms use iCapital’s solutions to provide clients with quality funds at lower minimums and simplified digital workflows. Asset managers and banks leverage iCapital’s technology to streamline and scale their private investments operational infrastructure. Additionally, the iCapital ‘flagship’ platform offers financial advisors and their high-net-worth clients access to a curated menu of private equity, private credit, hedge funds, and other alternative investments to help meet their investing needs for return and diversification. iCapital’s research and diligence team offers robust analysis alongside the firm’s extensive suite of advisor education, compliance, portfolio management, and portfolio analytics tools and services. iCapital was recognized on the Forbes FinTech 50 list in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, the Forbes America’s Best Startup Employers in 2021, and MMI/Barron’s Industry Awards as Solutions Provider of the Year in 2020. As of June 30, 2021, iCapital services more than $80 billion in global client assets across more than 780 funds. Employing more than 450 people globally, iCapital is headquartered in NYC and has offices in Zurich, London, Lisbon, and Hong Kong.
For additional information, please visit iCapital Network’s website at www.icapitalnetwork.com | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/icapital-network-inc | Twitter: @icapitalnetwork
