• The £2.2 million round includes investments from Forward Partners and Middlegame Ventures alongside other notable Institutional and Angel Investors.
• Founder Matt Ong says Ctrl Alt is making financial services more competitive by providing the infrastructure for investment platforms to access alternative assets like property and green energy.

London, Monday 23rd October:  Ctrl Alt, the B2B solutions provider for alternative assets, has raised £2.2 million in a funding round aimed at empowering fintechs and investment platforms to diversify their investment offering beyond stocks and bonds to investments in fractionalised assets such as property and green energy.

The funding round was led by Forward Partners and Middlegame Ventures and joined by a group of notable Angel Investors and follow-on funds, including Enterprise Ireland, Algorand Ventures, 365.fintech, Syndicate Room, Marc Cohen (Unbundled VC), Omid Ashtari (ex-Google, ex-President Citymapper) and Alex Macdonald (Co-Founder of sequel & Velocity Black). 

Founded in 2020 by founder Matt Ong (former Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse), Ctrl Alt offers products including API and White Label capabilities designed to provide the infrastructure for investment platforms to access alternative assets within their brand and platform. A move they say could help financial services remain competitive by expanding beyond stocks and bonds to offer alternative forms of investment. 

By bridging the gap between asset holders and asset allocators like fintechs and investment platforms, Ctrl Alt is making alternative assets, a typically exclusive form of investment, accessible to individual consumers. Matt Ong, CEO & Co-founder of Ctrl Alt, said:

“A culture of exclusivity, overly restrictive entry requirements and archaic processes have meant access to investing in things like property and green energy and more have traditionally been dominated by the super-rich and institutional investors. A diversified portfolio should play a key role in any investment strategy and it’s not right that alternative assets, a typically robust form of investment, remain in the old world of money.”

For asset owners seeking investment, Ctrl Alt simplifies the capital raising process. Ctrl Alt’s team of financial and technical experts and their purpose-built products manage the asset investment side end-to-end, a move Matt says will bring a wider variety of assets into the market: 

“There are plenty of asset holders who are looking for new ways to finance and free up capital. By simplifying the process and providing more on hand support, we’re meeting the growing consumer demand for alternative assets by bringing more assets into the market.”

In 2022, the Private Equity Database reported that Infrastructure is forecasted to perform with a predicted 13.3% annual growth in assets under management (AUM), with alternative assets AUM expected to reach $23.3tn by the end of 2027. According to the Independent Financial Advisors (IFA) in 2023, 97% of portfolios increased their allocation to alternative assets.

Ctrl Alt also reported that there is a growing demand for alternative assets among Millennial and Gen-Z investors. A 2022 study by The Bank of America revealed that 75% of investors aged 21 to 42 believe above-average returns cannot be achieved solely through equities and bonds, with 80% of this demographic turning to alternative investments.

Megha Prakash, Senior Investor at Forward Partners said: 

“At Forward, we see a massive opportunity to democratise access to financial investments for eligible investors who have hitherto been locked out of these markets due to large tickets, administrative complexity and a lack of access. Ctrl Alt promises to broaden access to a large range of investments. With a strong background in structuring financial products and his digital-native, and wealth of experience working in the regulated space, Matt is a great founder to tackle this opportunity and we are excited to be backing him.”

Michael Meyer, Managing Partner of MiddleGame Ventures, said:

“We believe that more investors should have the ability to invest in higher returning alternative assets. To date, only institutions and the very wealthy have had access. Matt and his team at Ctrl Alt are working to change that. We are thrilled to be backing such a great team that has built a unique business, combining Matt’s expertise on regulation with cutting-edge technology.”

END 

Notes to editors

As with all investing, capital is at risk.

Private Equity Database report, 2022

Bank of America reports on Gen-Z and alternative asset investments.

About Ctrl Alt

Ctrl Alt was launched in 2020 by Matt Ong (formerly of Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse) to make investing in alternative assets more accessible for the individual investor. The alternative asset platform empowers fintechs and investment platforms to provide their customers with opportunities to invest in tokenised assets such as green energy, real estate, and more while making it easier for asset holders to fractionalise assets as a means to raise capital. 

By bringing together the needs of fintechs and investment platforms with that of asset holders, Ctrl Alt is enabling access to a previously exclusive world. It aims to bring a new arm of investing to fintech’s and investment platforms tool belt by blending industry expertise in alternative assets with financial technology.

In a recent funding round, Ctrl Alt secured £2.2 million in investment, led by Forward Partners and Middlegame Ventures and supported by a group of notable Angel Investors and follow-on funds, including Enterprise Ireland, Algorand Ventures, 365.fintech, Syndicate Room, Marc Cohen (Unbundled VC), Omid Ashtari (ex-Google, ex-President Citymapper) and Alex Macdonald (Co-Founder of sequel & Velocity Black). 

Ctrl Alt’s team, based in London and Dundalk, Ireland. The team is composed of financial and product experts including alumni from Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and Revolut. As with all investing, capital is at risk.