Caesar Sengupta has worked on and overseen a number of category-defining projects over the past decade and a half. As a product lead at Google, he led ChromeOS, the company’s desktop operating system. He then led the Android maker’s Next Billion Users initiative, which enabled products like Google Pay in India to serve and onboard the next generation of internet users.
Last year, he left Google along with several colleagues to start a new venture. Now, he’s ready to share what he’s done.
Sengupta said on Wednesday that his startup, dubbed Arta Financial, will work to provide access to alternative assets for individuals, mostly the ultra-wealthy so far.
Arta is building a “digital family office for the world,” Sengupta said in an interview with TechCrunch. But, this is a highly regulated space, so we have to take very measured and careful steps and we’re building it in an off-the-books way.
Sengupta also revealed that Arta Finance has raised some funding: it has raised over $90 million in seed and Series A funding rounds from Sequoia Capital India, Rabbit Capital, Koatu and more than 140 entrepreneurs, including Eric Schmidt, Bessie Cohen and Ram Sriram. .
He and his colleagues became aware of the problem because it was in their personal lives, Sengputa said.
“We found that once you get to the $10 million to $15 million range, you can get the private bank to work with you and they will help you. But for many of us who have little money and are making money, our options are very limited,” he said.
“You can go to a financial planner, but it feels old-school to us techies. You can try to do it yourself, but most of us are so busy with our jobs and lives that any kind of financial planning falls by the wayside. But if you look closely, there are things around investing. Some class is a big data problem—the kind of problem we can apply machine learning to at scale.
Image Credits: Art
Clients on Arta will also find investment opportunities in alternative assets Private equity, venture capital, private debt and real estate. The popular platform allows members to start with an investment of $10,000 and receive funding. Top-10 fund managers, including BNY Mellon, which have consistently generated high returns over the past decade.
Arta’s customers can use credit lines without having to sell their shares. “We don’t want our clients to leave for liquidity,” Sengupta said. Members will also have the option to create “highly customized” portfolios using stocks, bonds, options and leverage, he said, adding that fund managers and banks have been slow to make changes to their portfolio choices by commingling each client’s money.
The startup said it will increase interest based on performance and will be transparent about its pricing.
Arta has “picked on a big unsolved problem in the global fintech space. Caesar and team have achieved exceptional results by building a number of smart products used by billions of internet users. Similar to many other consumer fintech companies, this is a more user-centric approach, a more enjoyable user experience and perhaps It wants a more seamless and scalable platform than it has today, according to the statement.
Arta is going direct with accredited investors in the US today. According to Sengupta, the startup plans to expand to more markets in the coming years, including Singapore and India.
“What excites us about Arta is the deep understanding of two critical lines. The first is complexity in financial services and more transparent access to information to make better decisions,” said Mickey Malka, founder of Rabbit Capital, in a statement.
“The second is automation using the best technology around. At Arta, we get the best of both. They understand the consumer, they understand the pain, and they have the experience of working with the best technology. We’re excited to see how they can impact and change the way everyone thinks about capital and their assets.”
