Alameda Research Leads $35M Round in Crypto Investment Platform Stacked

Crypto investment platform Stacked has raised $35 million in a funding round led by Alameda Research and Mirana Ventures.

The startup will use the capital to more than double its 40-person team, as well as launch its curated, risk-adjusted crypto portfolios for non-accredited investors early next year.

The oversubscribed funding round also included the venture capital arm of Fidelity International, DRW Venture Capital, Alumni Ventures and Jump Capital.

Using the Stacked platform, customers can access pre-built bundles of investments from hedge funds, indices and asset managers and get investment advice based on their financial goals. Stacked is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to operate as a registered investment adviser (RIA).

“There’s a ton of really cool tools out there that you can do across all kinds of neat platforms. But the reality is that 95% of that stuff, including just the basic crypto exchanges, is still too complicated for the average person. Because while they make buying crypto easy, there’s still the elephant in the room of, ‘Well, what crypto do I buy?’,” Stacked founder and CEO Joel Birch told CoinDesk in an interview.

Launched in 2020, Stacked said it now has over $100 million in user funds connected to its smart portfolio manager. Its goal is to grow assets under management to over $1 billion in 2022. Stacked is currently web-based but plans to go fully mobile within the next six months.

About a third of the funding round will go toward growing the firm’s headcount to over 100 with a particular focus on the strategic leadership side, said Birch.

“But then we also intend on doing a large user acquisition play. We’re going to allocate a lot of dollars towards marketing. And we’re also going to be making some heavy investments in the blockchain technology side,” said Birch.

Investment products that make it easier to invest in crypto are on the rise. In August, mobile investment platform Titan launched an actively managed crypto investment basket containing several cryptocurrencies.

Read more: Alameda-Backed Investment Platform Stacked Acquires Automated Trading Service