Smartkarma’s reaps US$21 million

Indian-owned Sequoia India has led the Series B round of financing for Singapore-based Smartkarma, Asia’s largest provider of independent investment research.

The Series B was closed 6 Nov 201, bringing Smartkarma’s total funding to US$21 million.

Existing investors, including Wavemaker Partners, Jungle Ventures and Spring Seeds, joined the Sequoia India-led Series B round.

Smartkarma is disrupting the traditional model of investment research, which has long been dominated by investment banks.

It is a model in a state of flux: banks are under pressure from regulators to improve pricing transparency and resolve inherent conflicts between their research and investment banking departments. Many investment banks are also downsizing research desks due to cost constraints, resulting in a decline in the depth and breadth of coverage of certain stocks, assets and sectors.

Smartkarma’s platform connects investment managers with a large community of experts and analysts, and a wealth of independent, unbiased research.

The company has seen rapid adoption since the launch of its platform in 2016.

Over 400 independent analysts covering more than 2,400 companies across 15 Asian markets, now contribute to Smartkarma’s cloud-based platform.

Insights are published daily with active minute by minute discussions, where themes and ideas are debated, discussed and questioned among a community of experts, in real time.

Over 150 leading institutional asset managers have subscribed, including sovereign wealth funds, global asset managers, hedge funds, boutiques and family offices, worldwide.

The top 10 clients alone have over $13.5 trillion under management.

The company was founded in Singapore in 2014 by Raghav Kapoor, Jon Foster and Lee Mitchell who, together, have over 35 years’ experience in equity research, marketing and sales. Kapoor and Foster were also co-founders of Aviate Research, which was acquired in 2010 by Religare Capital Markets. fii-news.com