Venture Catalysts backs US-focussed equities investment platform Vested

US and India-based investment platform Vested has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from incubation platform Venture Catalysts. 

The investment was part of Vested’s pre-seed round, an official statement said.

Vested, which helps Indians invest in the US equity markets, will use the funds to expand operations, the statement added.

Vested was founded by Viram Shah, Darwin Arifin and Eric Huynh in August 2018. Eric has experience in product creation, Viram was previously an investment banker with JP Morgan while Darwin was with Intel.

“We are excited to be supported by Venture Catalysts in this endeavour. Their investor network is large and diverse. We are looking forward to tapping into this network and the treasure trove of expertise that comes with it,” CEO and co-founder Shah said.

Vested claims their product is an easy-to-use online platform with zero commission. They also offer education on the US markets, and the ability to buy fractional shares (less than one share). Vested also helps users with remittances and taxation.

“Vested is a one-of-its-kind platform that fills a long-felt need gap of bridging investors from all over the world to local and international markets,” Anuj Golecha, co-founder of Venture Catalysts, said. “The founders are highly experienced business professionals and have extensive domain knowledge in fintech, AI and analytics space. We believe that supporting Vested in its current phase will help them to build their product and team for rapid expansion across multiple markets.”