Sweater, a fintech company building the first fully-managed venture capital fund that is open to everyday investors, closed a monumental $12 million series seed round of funding. The round was co-led by Motivate VC and Akuna Capital, with participation from Jeffrey Cruttenden (Co-founder of Acorns), Eli Broverman (Co-founder of Betterment), Litquidity, MRTNZ Ventures, Bison Venture Partners, Spacestation, First Chair Ventures, Zilliqa Capital, Monsen Ventures, Nick Perez, Jeb Bush Jr., Ryan Holtzman, Aaron Wolko, as well as YouTube creators Peter Hollens (2.6M subscribers), Andrei Jikh (1.9 M subscribers), Nate O'Brien (1.2M subscribers), and Jake Tran (924K subscribers), among other super angels.

Sweater's mission is to accelerate generational wealth creation through venture investing. It aims to level the playing field and give everyday investors a seat at the VC table. By democratizing VC, Sweater's vision is to sew a "tight-knit" community that brings investors, founders, and the companies they're building closer together.

According to David Weiland, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Motivate Ventures, "Motivate believes that democratizing access to venture capital is inevitable. We were extremely impressed with Sweater's thoughtful approach and grand vision to that end and are excited for the journey ahead." 

Sweater is targeting a $10 trillion industry of retail investors that is already starting to take advantage of alternative investing opportunities in real estate, art, collectibles, and hedge funds. They believe venture investing is next, and so do the 50,000+ people on their waitlist.

"The retail investor revolution is unfolding before our eyes, as investors continue to take further control over their investing futures, and fintech companies like Sweater are opening access to previously exclusive asset classes,'' said Sweater's CEO Jesse Randall.

As a professionally managed fund, Sweater's team conducts due diligence and invests on behalf of retail investors, who Sweater will refer to as "Members." They then share investment breakdowns and company stories through the app (launching soon), so Members can easily see how their money is being put to work in the next generation of world-changing startups.

"Our goal is to give our members courtside seats to the world of venture. That is why we will offer a fully-managed fund that allows any investor—accredited or not—to invest in the venture capital asset class," said Randall. 

Globally, venture capital has dominated the private market for the last three years, with over $620 billion poured into startups in 2021 alone, according to Pitchbook's analysis. Retail investors demand access to once-coveted asset classes, and venture investing is next to be disrupted. 

"We're building for the future and the next 20 years of venture capital," said Randall. "Our mission is to foster the next generation of venture-backed startups by providing everyday investors ample access and opportunity to invest in companies changing the world."

As Sweater quickly approaches its public launch, the company plans to use the new capital to scale across the entire organization. Sweater is focused on building out a world-class investment team, along with expanding its growth marketing, Member experience, and product and engineering efforts.

Fong Wa Chung, Head of Venture at Akuna Capital expressed, "Akuna is proud to support the Sweater team as they lead the way in unlocking doors for everyday investors through its world-class venture investing platform, designed from the ground up to meet people's desire for access, opportunity, and collective impact."

To learn more and to be among the first to know when the app is available, feel free to join their tight-knit community at Sweaterventures.com.