US-based financial services provider First Rate has committed $25m over the next three years to its new corporate venture capital unit.
First Rate Ventures will be led by managing director Marshall Smith, previously chief operating officer at First Rate, with Prabhakar Reddy as a strategic adviser.
It will target seed investments in wealth management and regulation tech companies.
In addition to growth capital, First Rate Ventures said it would provide early-stage startups with strategic technology assets, connections to decision makers at its 500 bank and wealth management clients, and a tier one bank-approved data security infrastructure.
This follows increased competition. This month, financial technology platform iCapital Network had been valued at more than $6bn after raising $50m in a funding round led by private equity firm WestCap.
Asset managers Apollo Global Management and Temasek also participated in the latest funding round for iCapital, which was founded in 2013 and offers services in the alternative investment marketplace to enterprises in the wealth management, banking, and asset management industries.
In July, the company had raised $440m at a $4bn value in a round led by Temasek with participation from new investor Owl Rock and exiting investors Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Existing investors in the company also include private equity firms Blackstone, KKR, and Carlyle Group.
