KingsCrowd, Inc. Announces Acquisition of Crowdwise, LLC
KingsCrowd, Inc. Acquires Crowdwise, LLC to Add Educational Content and New Investor Tools to Its Product Offerings
BOSTON, Aug. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- KingsCrowd, the online private market's first and only data-driven ratings and analytics platform, has acquired Crowdwise, a leading provider of educational courses, tools, and resources for equity crowdfunding investors.
The strategic acquisition by KingsCrowd will add educational courses and content as well as new features and tools to its current product offerings. VentureWallet, a startup investing portfolio management app used by online private market investors, will also be a part of the acquisition and will enable KingsCrowd to add exciting new features to its own portfolio management tool.
Chris Lustrino, founder and CEO of KingsCrowd, commented: "Education is at the core of everything we do at KingsCrowd. In such a new market where people are investing in private equity for the first time, we need to do everything in our power to provide education and support to our hundreds of thousands of members. Over the past couple of years, it has become clear that Brian has built a world-class educational program and set of resources at Crowdwise. We feel strongly that we can advance both our missions at an accelerated pace by joining forces. In addition to the power of Crowdwise, we couldn't be more excited to have such a bright, talented and knowledgeable individual in Brian Belley joining our team!"
As part of the acquisition, Crowdwise founder Brian Belley will be joining the KingsCrowd team full time as Vice President of Product. In addition to his role as founder of Crowdwise, Brian currently sits on the Board of the Crowdfunding Professional Association and acts as an advisor to numerous startups in the equity crowdfunding space. Brian's expertise in the equity crowdfunding industry, along with his personal investment background of more than 150 startups, brings a unique perspective and skillset to the KingsCrowd team.
"I'm thrilled to be officially joining the KingsCrowd team," Brian said. "The CEO, Chris Lustrino, has built an amazing team and has a bold vision of empowering anyone -- regardless of background -- to confidently invest in the private markets. I couldn't think of a more noble and exciting mission to be a part of today."
KingsCrowd has a history of strategic acquisitions including Crowditz in 2017, Newchip's legacy assets in 2019, and Early Investing in 2020. The current acquisition will help to accelerate both user growth and core product features.
About KingsCrowd, Inc.
KingsCrowd stands at the intersection between early-stage companies seeking growth capital and startup investors. By providing institutional-grade data and analysis that all stakeholders can trust, KingsCrowd enables anyone to "invest like a venture capitalist."
KingsCrowd's Merlin Ratings Platform analyzes more than 260 data points to provide trusted insights, analytics, and ratings to help investors navigate the startup investing market and make informed, data-driven investment decisions.
With KingsCrowd, investors never miss out on promising private market investments and eliminate hours of work searching for and vetting deals. For more information, visit us at kingscrowd.com, or follow up on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Media Contact(s):
Chris Lustrino
CEO, KingsCrowd
[email protected]
P: (914) 826-4520
Brian Belley
Founder, Crowdwise
[email protected]
P: (978) 600-4520
SOURCE KingsCrowd
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