New York, Dec. 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vincent, an online platform that helps investors gain access to alternative assets, today announced the launch of a search engine where investors can discover and diligence hundreds of alternative investment opportunities from more than 50 partnering investment platforms.
Online investing, like much of fintech, has recently boomed as independent, savvy investors seek more ways to earn yield in response to historically low interest rates. The days of building wealth through savings accounts are over, prompting the rise of self-service investment services like Robinhood and Betterment, which allow investors more direct control over their financial futures.
In particular, alternative investments have proven pivotal, with investors aiming to diversify their portfolios to include private assets like real estate, venture capital, or cryptocurrency, instead of focusing solely on the public markets. These assets, which have long been held by institutions and high-net-worths, are quickly becoming available to smaller investors via various online investment platforms and service providers.
Dubbed 'Zillow for investors,' Vincent unifies the fragmented world of alternative investing into an easy-to-use search engine, making opportunities accessible for everyday investors. On Vincent, investors can browse, compare, and research hundreds of unique investment opportunities from partner platforms including Fundrise, Yieldstreet, StartEngine, Roofstock, Masterworks, and Otis.
"Investment discovery for alternatives has been a pain point for investors," says Vincent CEO Eric Cantor. "On Vincent, we're seeing the typical investor review 25 investment offers, while 70 percent of investors search for at least two asset types."
Vincent, which has been in private beta since July 2020, currently indexes nearly $2 billion of available investments across asset classes including venture capital, real estate, private equity, private credit, art, collectibles, and more. To date, more than 100,000 investment searches have been conducted by 15,000 unique investors.
Vincent is the brainchild of Indiegogo founder Slava Rubin and former Indiegogo investing lead Evan Cohen. They are joined by fintech entrepreneur Eric Cantor and technology lead Ross Cohen, former head of engineering at Mirror, which sold to Lululemon for $500 million.
"With the alternative investment market set to grow from $9 to $14 trillion in the next five years, Vincent was the right next step on my journey to democratize access to investing," says Rubin, Vincent co-founder and Executive Chairman.
The trend has not gone unnoticed, as venture capitalists have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the growing alternative investment ecosystem. The platforms on Vincent benefit from the 2012 JOBS act rules, which opened the door for general solicitation and crowdfunding online. This past month, the SEC announced expansions to those rules, which will lead to further growth and increase the availability of online alternative investment opportunities.
Using Vincent's search engine, investors can create custom searches tailored to fit their interests and portfolio needs. Investors can search across various platforms and filter by asset class, investment minimums, liquidity terms, and even potential return. Vincent's backend aggregates the data, making it easy for investors to review and connect with the right investment platforms with just a few clicks.
In conjunction with its formal launch, Vincent announced a $2 million round of capital to support its growth. Investors include Uncommon Denominator, humbition, ERA, and The Fund, as well as several strategic angels, including Jeff Fagnan (Accomplice, AngelList), Alap Shah (Sentieo), and Lazslo Bock (Google, Humu).
About Vincent
Vincent is the most comprehensive search engine for alternative asset investing. Headquartered in New York City, we aggregate thousands of investment opportunities across real estate, venture capital, private equity, debt, art, collectibles, and more into one easy-to-navigate website. Through Vincent, investors gain unprecedented access to new, quality investment opportunities and research, entirely for free. Since July 2020, we have serviced over 100,000 investment searches by more than 15,000 unique investors. For more information, please visit www.withvincent.com and @DiscoverVincent.