Dynasty Financial Partners, the St. Petersburg, Fla.–based services platform for independent advisors, has partnered with digital investment platform Allocate to provide its network of advisors options to invest in venture capital fund manager strategies and co-investments, according to an announcement.
“Dynasty believes that the venture firms get their pick of high-quality deals, partner with their choice of founders, and help these founders work to build successful businesses. Unfortunately, access has been limited at best for other non-institutional accredited investors,” said Carter Reum, co-founder of venture capital firm M13, which invests in Allocate, in a statement. “We believe the venture market is overdue for innovation and are thrilled that the Dynasty-Allocate partnership will widen access to venture managers, while also lessening the administrative burden for those venture GPs attracting capital.”
Allocate was launched in late 2021 by Samir Kaji and Hana Yang, former managing directors at First Republic Bank, as a platform to streamline access to venture capital strategies for qualified investors. It was designed specifically for advisors and sought to streamline the burdensome process of investing.
The platform automates the search for investment opportunities, as well as "know your customer" and anti-money-laundering regulations. The platform creates easier workflows around subscription documents, capital calls and investment management. It uses feeder fund vehicles to keep minimum investments low, according to the announcement.
In May, the startup raised $15.3 million in Series A funding, led by M13 and with participation from Bedrock, SignalFire, and Intera Capital, and returning investors Tusk Venture Partners, Urban Innovation Fund, Fika Ventures, Anthemis, Basis Set Ventures, and Broadhaven Ventures. At that time, the firm said it had more than 200 noninstitutional investors and over $125 million on the platform.
“Venture capital has increasingly been an appealing investment opportunity for independent financial advisors to offer their high-net-worth clients,” said Ed Swenson, co-founder and chief operating officer of Dynasty, in a statement. “We are thrilled to partner with Allocate to open up access to the private innovation economy for our Network advisors and their private wealth clients without the friction points of high minimums and the burden of having to do their own diligence and discovery.”
In January, Dynasty filed to list its Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “DSTY.” Given the roiling equity markets, the shares have not yet been priced and it remains to be seen if the public offering will take place and how much capital Dynasty can raise if it does.
The IPO market has rapidly plummeted to a 20-year low, according to published reports, with a high inflation rate, rising interest rates, the possibility of a deepening recession and the invasion of Ukraine forcing hundreds of firms into holding patterns until market clarity improves.
Dynasty recently closed a $50 million revolving credit facility with Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) acting as sole administrative agent, and UMB Bank and J.P. Morgan joining as Joint Lead Arrangers and Joint Book Runners. Citibank and Goldman Sachs Bank USA are also part of the syndicate.
“This new facility provides us with significant dry powder to continue to drive growth in the business and further enhance our service offering,” said Justin Weinkle, Dynasty’s CFO, in a statement.