NEWS

First-Time Venture Capital Fund Buys into SmartRIA

By Chris Glynn

 

A first-ever venture capital fund run under Josh Brown and Barry Ritholtz has seeded cloud-based compliance management software solution SmartRIA, according to a press statement.

 

Brown is chief executive officer and Ritholtz is chief investment officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management the sub-advisor for newly minted venture capital fund, Compound Capital Fund I.  

 

Compound Capital Fund I made a “minority investment” in SmartRIA, according to a third-party spokesperson for RWM. The spokesperson declined to provide additional information about RWM or SmartRIA. RWM is a $3 billion exchange-traded fund registered investment advisor.

 

Knoxville, Tenn.-based SmartRIA is finished with seed funding and is expecting to have its Series A funding “in the relatively near term,” said CEO Mac Bartine. Founded in 2015, SmartRIA has 2,500 clientele nationwide, Bartine said.

 

In addition to RWM, the company in late 2021 received seed funding from back-office and middleware provider Dynasty Wealth Partners as well as MarketCounsel Consulting.

 

Like Ritholtz Wealth Management, Dynasty Wealth Partners is a user of SmartRIA, according to Bartine. The company also has a user base including Bozeman, Mont., investment consultant XY Planning Network, he said.

 

The company website also listed Black Diamond Wealth Platform, BridgeFT as well as $1 trillion broker-dealer LPL Financial among its clientele. 

 

In addition to making compliance management “simple,” Bartine noted SmartRIA is working with the “larger, more prominent” RIA industry.