Coinbase Joins $5M Funding Round for Digital Transfer Agent Vertalo

Vertalo, an Austin, Texas-based start-up that helps issue and manage digital securities, has raised $5 million in funding from investors including U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase.

The Series A funding round closed May 13 and also included participation from the Tezos Foundation, Wedbush Capital and others, according to Vertalo CEO Dave Hendricks.

The four-year-old company helps to digitize assets from real estate to equity in the form of security tokens, using distributed ledger technology – relying primarily on the Tezos and Ethereum blockchains.

“In 2020 we started licensing the platform to broker dealers, capital providers, funds and multi-asset issuers so they can issue security tokens and onboard investors at scale,” Hendricks told CoinDesk in an interview.

Vertalo booked $1.5 million of revenue in the first quarter of 2021, Hendricks said.

One of the company's primary offerings is blockchain-based capitalization table management, using ledgers to keep track of the owners of shares and assets along with relevant information such as amounts, prices paid, purchase dates and options. The system allows ownership records to be updated in real time when trades are settled via smart contracts. It aims to reduce the errors and complexity involved in managing traditional cap tables, which are often manually updated on spreadsheets.

Vertalo is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as a transfer agent, according to its website, which means it works with issuers to compile and maintain records of security ownership, distribute dividends and facilitate transactions.