Eleven
Eleven is a cloud-based data platform for the global private investment industry, designed to enable fund managers to build a secure community of clients. Through the platform, fund investors can research and monitor more information about private investments to make smarter, more tailored investment choices.
With customers across fund administrators, fund managers, placement agents and broker-dealers, the business aims to bring hedge funds, private equity, private lending and financial intermediaries online – joining together the often disparate solutions companies use in one integrated environment.
This year saw the business partner with fund administrator Vistra on its new investor services portal, which focuses on Eleven’s document management system. It brings Vistra’s Investor Relations teams new capabilities to accurately deliver investment documents and communications to investors inside each client’s own online environment. It also enables investor contacts to easily access the documents they need and across multiple investments.
Eric Slaim, founder and CEO of Eleven, said: “It has been truly exciting to help such a forward-thinking firm take a leadership role in technology to deliver unrivalled value to their clients. I cannot wait to continue our work with Vistra’s highly collaborative and visionary team and see Vistra and their clients get ahead as they migrate to a more digital and connected future.”
FundGuard
FundGuard is an AI-powered SaaS platform for investment management and administration, helping asset managers and fund administrators to manage mutual funds, ETFs, hedge funds, insurance products and pension funds.
The fintech has gone from strength to strength in the last 12 months, cemented by a $40 million Series B funding round in April – with Citi and State Street joining initial investors Blumberg Capital, LionBird Ventures and Team8 Capital.
In the months leading up to the funding round, FundGuard landed asset manager, fund administration and custody bank customers; launched its enhanced investment accounting solution, including support for digital assets; and announced the appointment of John Lehner, former State Street and BNY Mellon executive as president.
Speaking to Global Custodian at the time, Lehner said the funding round will help FundGuard to bring on additional resources and achieve scale. “We’re bringing on resources across the spectrum for both development and capacity. We’re working with more clients to bring them live onto the platform, providing support and services to them.
“We’re also expanding the development team, to continue to identify new areas for us to expand the platform. One of the benefits of being a cloud-native platform is the speed at which we can move, and the ability to open it up for third party development.”
FundsDLT
A joint venture from Clearstream and two asset management firms, FundsDLT is a decentralised technology platform for the distribution of funds.
Originating from the Luxembourg Stock Exchange’s incubator and its affiliate Fundsquare, the technology enables the reengineering of the fund distribution value chain allowing asset managers, distributors, and asset servicers to reduce costs by removing redundant activities.
Last year, the platform worked alongside UBS Asset Management to successfully demonstrate the advantages of a blockchain-based distribution model for investment funds.
The proof-of-concept pilot, which was supported by Zurich-based research and product development company, i.AM Lab, explored a front-to-back blockchain-based investment fund distribution model. The whole distribution process was covered by the pilot, starting with the onboarding of investors, transaction initiation up to settlement and transfer agency.
Olivier Portenseigne, CEO of FundsDLT, said investors and asset managers need long-term solutions that enable them to transform their businesses and grow their investor base. “This requires new models that focus on seamless digital delivery, automation and process and operational efficiency.”
Lukka
Founded in 2014, Lukka’s mission is to “solve the most complex data challenges to support and accelerate innovation in our financial system and global commerce as a whole”. It does this by applying the complexities of blockchain data with traditional business needs.
The firm signed a number of high-profile clients last year, including State Street, S&P Dow Jones Indices, and RSM, which all leverage Lukka’s technology to manage crypto asset data, transactions, and downstream services.
In January, Lukka closed its Series E funding round worth $110 million, valuing the company at more than $1.3 billion.
“With the crypto-asset ecosystem entering a new phase of maturity, the need for Lukka’s institutional quality data and software solutions has never been more relevant,” said Robert Materazzi, CEO of Lukka. “We take pride in solving the most complex data challenges for our customers and now partnered with the world-class investors who participated in this round, we look forward to tackling all of the challenges that result from the incredible innovation that continues across the disruptive crypto industry.”
This year also saw the business expand to Europe, opening a headquarters in Zug, Switzerland.
“We have received constant requests for local support from our existing customers and are deeply impressed with the innovation and risk maturity of companies based in or expanding to Zug.” said Materazzi at the time. “We are proud to establish our European Headquarters in Zug and support the growing community with a local office.”