Alto bags $5.4m in its Seed round led by Moment Ventures

Alto, which is helping individual investors access alternative assets, has scored $5.4m in its Seed round.

The capital infusion was led by Moment Ventures, and Jefferson River Capital, the family office of Blackstone vice chairman Tony James. Other backers including Foundation Capital, Sequoia’s Scout Fund, and Amplify.L.A.

Investment Company Institute claims Americans have over $28 trillion of assets in retirement accounts, including $9 trillion in IRAs. However, only one per cent of IRA assets are invested due to complexities in the process. Alto has built automated technology to streamline the task.

Alto’s Alternative IRA is an individual retirement account which gives investors the freedom to invest in alternative assets such as startups, private companies, private equity and venture capital funds, real estate, marketplace loans, and digital currencies. Both direct company investments and contributions via platforms like AngelList are possible through Alto.

Jefferson River Capital President aid David Wittels. “Since researching and co-authoring Rescuing Retirement, Tony has been focused on the retirement system in the US and concerned that more Americans than ever are approaching retirement with inadequate savings.

“The existing 401(k) and IRA system requires Administrators to offer predominantly short-term, liquid investments, a structural bias that leads to subpar returns in comparison to pension funds and endowments invested in longer-term, less liquid alternatives.”

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