The recently launched RISR has raised $1.5 million in capital to help fund its new cloud-based advisor platform specifically built for business owner clients.
The Philadelphia-based RISR took its platform live in March and has since grown to dozens of firms and more than 100 users, said RISR founder and CEO Jason Early. The capital raise announced on June 26 was backed by industry veterans including Tiff Investment Management CEO Kane Brenan, Propelr co-founder Angelo Grecco, former Hamilton Lane Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lucey. The funds will go toward further developing the RISR platform and building out staff.
RISR's platform uses data algorithms and AI-backed tools to help advisors manage portfolios of clients with private businesses, including taxes, estate planning and succession planning.
"There's been tools in tech to serve the entire household or the entire family, but it's really difficult for people to give advice to private companies because there's just not clarity around that asset. And so, that's where we come in," Early said. "Our thesis is really simple, which is: owners need better advice, and the advisors that give it to them need better tools and technology."
There are numerous studies showing business owners lack a clear, documented succession plan with some intending to just
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"Amid a significant decline in the number of publicly listed companies, attention has been shifting to the private market, and the owners of those companies desperately need sound advice," said Lucey, who serves as a RISR advisory board member. "Jason [Early] and the team are equipping advisors with unmatched technology that addresses this need head-on."
RISR started earlier this year with a team of financial tech experts including Cory Siegfried as chief operating officer, who previously worked for Envestnet, eMoney, Apprise Labs and Relay Network. Early also spent the last decade in the financial tech space, most recently as president of BizEquity, a business valuation software provider, before he left in July 2023 to start RISR.
"There's a lot of great products and platforms out there that go deep on a couple of areas, some of which can get pretty technical. So we try to keep it at a level where the advisor is comfortable talking about these things" like an exit strategy and valuation, Early said. "It's got to be consumable by both the advisor and the owner. … So our seamless data integration is really our biggest differentiator."
Early started on the advisor side as managing director of the Creative Financial Group for seven years before moving into financial technology in 2015 as vice president of sales at technology consultant firm, Hoopis Performance Network. It was then that Early said he realized he was better at technology than being an advisor.
"I had a very short and relatively unsuccessful career as an advisor," he said. "But I learned a lot and if I look back, none of this would have been possible without any of those kinds of prior experiences or career moves. So I'm super thankful for every step that led us here."
That frankness also carries over to RISR's price structure. When asked how much it costs, Early said point-blank:
"350 bucks a month" for a single advisor pricing, he said. Prices do increase for firm-wide subscriptions, but there is no lengthy lock-in contract, he added.
"We think it's incumbent on us to keep you on the platform. If you don't like it, you can move," Early said. "I've made that mistake too many times and try and overcomplicate it. And you know, the more you can eliminate the friction from the buying process with simplicity, the better."
