Incubation and accelerator platform Venture Catalysts has invested an undisclosed sum of money in Vested, an investment platform enabling Indian investors to invest in the US stock market.
The investment was part of Vested Finance Inc.’s pre-seed round, the company said in a statement. The company has used the funding to launch its product in India, its first market, it added.
Viram Shah, the co-founder of Vested Finance, said the company help investors to access foreign markets easily, adding that the company would also use the investment to leverage Venture Catalysts’ expertise and network.
Separately, Venture Catalysts co-founder Anuj Golecha said Vested would help to bridge the gap between investors and, local and international markets. “We believe that supporting Vested in its current phase will help them to build their product and team for rapid expansion across multiple markets,” Golecha said.
Vested Finance, which is headquartered in San Francisco in US, is registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. It was founded by Shah, Darwin Arifin and Eric Huynh in 2018.
Shah was previously an investment banker with JP Morgan, while Arifin worked at chipmaker and multinational corporation Intel. Huynh previously worked as the director of product for Azumio, a mobile health company specialising in biometric mobile technology.
The company says its investment platform has no commission charges, and that it offers services such as education on US markets. Vested also helps its users with remittances and tax tracking.
Venture Catalysts
The Mumbai-based incubation platform was set up in December 2015 by Anuj Golecha, Apoorv Ranjan Sharma, Anil Jain and Gaurav Jain. It usually invests between $250,000 and $1 million in early-stage startups.
In May, Venture Catalysts invested in Rare Planet, a Kolkata-based e-commerce startup that sells handicrafts made by the local artisans.
Its other recent investments include WiFi and data network aggregator EasyFi, snacks brand Keeros Foods Pvt. Ltd, online procurement platform for restaurants Adurcup and rental accommodation space provider Grexter.
In April, snacks and sweets brand Haldiram’s invested an undisclosed sum in Venture Catalysts to facilitate more investments in the packaged foods segment.
