Realto just raised $4.5 million in the latest venture round for it expanding business that is focused on secondary trading of illiquid real estate and alternative investments.
“We’re excited to welcome these important investors as we continue to expand our robust trading capabilities across the universe of alternative products,” said Realto CEO Brian King. King founded Realto in 2020 after two decades in the financial markets including roles at Bats Global Markets and the New York Stock Exchange. Prior to Realto he founded Fortress Investment Advisors and grew it to $120 million prior to its sale.
Realto’s aim has been to offer investors daily liquidity opportunities that to date haven’t existed via the secondary trading of real estate and other illiquid securities. In January, Realto received approval from the SEC to operate an Alternative Trading System (ATS), which allowed the firm to offer additional secondary trading opportunities via enhancements such as additional order types and two-sided quotes, according to officials.
The Overland Park, Kan.-based company’s latest round was led by Firebrand Ventures with investments from KCRise Fund and other investors. Firebrand’s Managing Partner John Fein has also joined Realto’s board.
“We are thrilled to lead this round in Realto,” Fein said. “The team has deep experience building exchanges and facilitating commercial real estate transactions and is targeting a huge addressable market of traditionally illiquid real estate and other alternative assets. The Realto platform is poised to unlock billions of dollars of value for their customers and we’re very excited to support their growth.”
Proceeds will be used to drive growth of the platform, which includes hiring of key personnel across the Realto organization. The company’s previous funding round closed in December 2020 at $3.5 million led by Gary Fish, CEO of FishNet Security and JE Dunn, a construction company.
“KCRise Fund is delighted to invest in Realto and its seasoned leaders,” said Darcy Howe, the firm’s Founder and Managing Director. “The team has an established history of successfully disrupting highly complex industries and we are excited to partner with them in scaling their private securities marketplace.”
