As fund administrators and managers face client churn, investors and regulators pressure funds to operate with greater transparency and efficiency: BaseVenture

BaseVenture’s flagship product FundManager.io is a Software-as-a-Service platform that simplifies how private funds are administered and managed, such as hedge funds, private equity funds, and real estate funds. FundManager.io streamlines fund management by connecting fund administrators, fund managers, and investors.

The company was founded in 2015 with business locations at San Rafael, CA (HQ), Rochester, MN (Technology), Carson City, NV (Service). FundManager.io helps Fund Administrators improve the quality of service to their clients and investors, increases their efficiency and margins, and helps them better tackle compliance and regulatory challenges.

In colloquy with the key Executives

Why was the company set up? How did you select the vertical and decide to be a part of the global platform? 

Kim and I created BaseVenture because we identified a significant opportunity for innovation in the Alternative Investment industry. Private Funds (e.g., Hedge, Private Equity, Real Estate, Venture Capital funds) are the fastest growing category of investments, projected to grow to $17T by 2020. Despite the significant amount of capital being invested in Alternative Investments, the manner in which private funds are administered and managed still relies on outdated technology, as well as significantly inefficient manual labor. Our team at BaseVenture developed an innovative Software-as-a-Service platform called “FundManager.io” to help simplify and automate how private funds are administered and managed. 

Tell us about your first product that was launched?

FundManager.io debuted in May 2016 at the Finovate Spring conference. In just 7 months in market, we have already gained significant traction with thousands of funds spanning private equity, venture capital, real estate and hedge funds. Our product is targeted at Fund Administrators, whom we feel are the most important (and most under-appreciated) stakeholder in the Alternative Investment industry. Fund Administrators are the foundation for how a private fund is properly managed & administered, and they perform a vital role in ensuring the accuracy and availability of performance information on a given fund for Fund Managers as well as for Investors.

What challenges did you face in your initial years? What can your peers learn from it?

As with any start-up, the key challenges that an early company faces typically relate to product focus, recruiting top talent, and attracting the right investors. We have been fortunate in that we quickly were able to bring together a talented group of people that spanned both technology as well as Alternative Investment expertise – many of whom previously worked together at other companies. Given our prior track record, we were also able to quickly bring together a group of investors that have helped fund our launch and continue to support our growth. Our advice would be to get laser focused as early as possible, and create a solution that has a meaningful impact on a large and growing industry. 

If you have to list five factors that have been/are the biggest asset to your organization, what would they be?

The five factors would be the right people, right place, right time, right customer target, right product, and right price.

Do you have any new products ready to be/getting ready to be rolled out into the market?

We have a suite of workflows that we are working on that will help Fund Administrators as well as other stakeholders in the Alternative Investment industry to better tackle things like cash management, compliance, subscription, and more.

Where do you see you and your company a couple of years from now?

We see further establishing ourselves in 2 areas:

• Being the premier technology partner for Fund Administrators and other stakeholders in the Alternative Investment industry
• Being an influential thought leader that helps to shape and guide the discussion of how the administration and management of private funds needs to evolve to meet today’s challenges

John Pizzi, BaseVenture’s CEO, said, “Our team not only has the track record of revolutionizing the FinTech space, but also the proper composition to meet the specific needs of our clients. “

Meet the Masters

John Pizzi, CEO: Before Co-founding BaseVenture, John was the COO of mFoundry. John built and managed mFoundry, which was sold to FIS in 2013, into the industry leading provider of mobile banking & payment solutions servicing thousands of financial institutions and retailers.

John is a serial entrepreneur and widely respected for leading innovation across the FinTech industry.  He is frequent speaker at industry events and an advisor to FinTech and SaaS startups. John is an elected member of the Forbes Finance Council, an invitation-only organization dedicated to the needs of leading successful accounting, financial planning, and wealth management firms. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Vanderbilt University.

Kim Vogel: Kim Vogel is the President & Co-founder of BaseVenture. Kim is a serial technology entrepreneur and senior executive with more than 25 years of experience helping companies finance, grow, and monetize their business. Prior to co-founding BaseVenture, Kim served as CFO of mFoundry, the industry pioneer and leader in mobile banking & payment solutions, which was sold to FIS in 2013, as well as CFO at a number of other high growth Bay Area companies. Earlier in her career, Kim worked in investment banking focusing on the technology industry and is a Certified Public Accountant. Kim earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and is a former professor at St. Mary’s College in CA and current board member.

“We are honored be selected as one of the Silicon 100. Our team at BaseVenture has worked hard to create a software platform that brings much needed innovation to private funds, which is the fastest growing category of investments. We are proud of the recognition and impact that we have already made in this exciting industry.”