Banking platform LevelField is raising $50 million, secures first acquisition

New banking platform LevelField Financial announced it has acquired Netshares Financial Services, a broker-dealer regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

LevelField is a financial services firm that aims to meld traditional banking and digital asset products into one trusted platform.  

Using the acquisition, LevelField will launch LevelField Capital to service client demands, including capital raising, accessing private investments, project finance, and advisory services, LevelField said in a release on Thursday. 

The terms of the deal were not disclosed, and the acquisition is still subject to regulatory approval,  the release said. 

Building traditional financial services within crypto 

Founded by banking veteran Gene Grant II in 2018, LevelField is only now rolling out its first features with its digital asset trading and custody platform launching in September, the release said. 

“When you think of LevelField, don't think of it as a crypto company, because that's the absolute wrong definition,” Grant said in an interview with The Block. “We are a traditional financial services company that specializes in the niche of customers interested in the digital asset class, and I think that's a huge differentiation in definition and the way that we think.” 

“Our goal is to provide a full-service banking experience to our customers,” Grant said, adding that digital assets should be treated the same as every other asset within the financial services industry. 

Raising $50 million

LevelField raised a small amount of pre-seed funding in 2018 and used the funds to focus on researching the regulatory environment, Grant said. The firm planned to do a major raise in March 2020, but it was derailed by Covid-19, he added. 

“It took us all the way to February of 2022 to raise the next round of funding,” Grant said. “So, we kept at it for two additional years, bootstrapping, essentially from my pocket until we were able to raise enough money to really put the company forward.” 

LevelField raised two seed rounds at the start of this year and currently is in the process of raising $50 million, according to an SEC filing. 

“We're hoping to close that out in September,” said Grant confirming the round.  Some of the funds will be used towards the acquisition, he added.

The firm also doesn’t plan to slow down on acquisitions either. Grant is looking to acquire a U.S. chartered bank, among other deals.