Edison Partners, 281 Witherspoon Street, Suite 300, Princeton 08540. 609-896-1900. Chris Sugden, managing partner. www.edisonpartners.com.
Edison Partners, a Princeton investment firm, has led a $62 million financing in New York-based YieldStreet, a digital wealth management platform. YieldStreet will use the funds to introduce new investment offerings, expand investor access, and increase retail investor education and engagement.
YieldStreet allows investors to participate in investments across a broad range of asset classes such as real estate, legal finance, marine finance, and commercial loans.
The service has more than 100,000 members who have invested more than $600 million through its platform. The company has earned a 12 percent internal rate of return for its investors to date.
“YieldStreet is democratizing the next frontier of wealth management, giving retail investors access to institutional-grade investment products that were previously off limits to them. They have found a profitable and scalable high-growth model in a variety of investments, and are now broadening their offerings with additional products,” said Chris Sugden, Managing Partner, Edison Partners, who led the investment.
“There’s an important financial services element to this business as well; the ability to source and underwrite investments. This requires a blend of domain and technology expertise,” he added. Co-founders Milind Mehere and Michael Weisz “bring the right mix of technology and specialty finance experience to drive deals to the platform while lowering the cost of entry to investors. I couldn’t be more excited to see them bring their brand to every investor looking for diversification and wealth creation.” Sugden will join YieldStreet’s board.
The YieldStreet platform provides access to alternative investing to help individuals and originators exchange value. Initially geared to accredited investors, YieldStreet recently began to expand its platform to the masses and emerging affluent markets. For example, the company recently launched YieldStreet Wallet, an FDIC-insured savings account offering 2.2 percent annual interest. Additional investment, banking, and wealth management product offerings are planned for 2019.
