Crowdfunding startup YieldStreet raises $113 million to disrupt alternative investing and accelerate wealth transformation

Crowdfunding platform YieldStreet has closed a $113 million financing round to accelerate the transformation of wealth creation by investing in further product innovation and growing its loyal community of investors. The Series A round includes $12.8 million of financing co-led by Greycroft and Raine Ventures and $100 million debt financing from a New York based family office. Additional equity investors include Saturn Ventures, Expansion Venture Capital, the Family Office and FJ Labs. YieldStreet is an innovative crowdfunding platform that connects investors to asset-based alternative investments. To date, the company has raised a total of $116.5 million.

The equity capital will help enable YieldStreet to accelerate the transformation of wealth creation by investing in further product innovation and growing its loyal community of investors. The raise comes as YieldStreet reached a tipping point in 2017, almost tripling prior year originations and surpassing $250 million raised by retail investors at the end of the year.

“With the ultimate mission of ‘Prosperity for All,’ YieldStreet is making it possible for individual investors to have wealth creation opportunities similar to the top 2%,” said Milind Mehere, CEO of YieldStreet. “This funding will enable us to bolster our machine learning and data analytics capability for predictive underwriting models, launch new products for non-accredited investors and further fuel our growth towards our mission. I am excited to work with this strong syndicate of investors who understand this opportunity.”

The co-founder of Greycroft, Alan Patricof and one of the pioneers of modern private equity as the founder of Apax Partners, will join the YieldStreet advisory board. Ian Sigalow of Greycroft, Gordon Rubenstein of Raine Ventures and a representative from the Family Office will join YieldStreet’s board.

New York-based YieldStreet was founded on Jan 5, 2015 by Dennis Shields, Michael Weisz and Milind Mehere. The startup provides access to asset based investments historically unavailable to most investors. With the mission of prosperity for all, YieldStreet allows investors to effortlessly participate in curated investments with low market correlation and high yield, across litigation finance, real estate and other alternative asset classes. The company provides a technology platform to create a unique experience for investors at every level and provides valuable diversification and strength to most portfolios.