Alto Ira
“Can a self-directed IRA custodian become the infrastructure layer connecting the $19 trillion retirement savings market to private-market issuers at scale?”
Founded2018
HQNashville, TN
FoundersEric Satz
Total raised$40M+
Latest roundSeries B, January 2022
IndustryFintech / Investment
The story
Founded as a self-directed IRA platform giving everyday investors access to alternative assets—private equity, venture capital, real estate, and crypto—typically reserved for ultra-wealthy investors. Alto built a two-sided marketplace connecting IRA investors with private market issuers, with Alto Trust Co. acting as custodian. After raising $40M in early 2022, the company expanded its crypto IRA vertical but ultimately divested it to Public in November 2025 for ~$65M, signaling a refocus on its core private-markets IRA and capital-raising business.
Product timeline
2018
Alto Solutions, Inc. founded in Nashville to provide self-directed IRA access to alternative investments.· banking
2019
Launched Alto CryptoIRA, enabling tax-advantaged crypto investing within an IRA.· banking
2022
Raised $40M Series B led by Advance Venture Partners; reported 15,000+ IRA investors with $1B+ assets under custody.· banking
2025
Sold CryptoIRA business to investment platform Public for a reported $65M in cash and stock.· acquisition
Regulated entities
1
regulatory licence held by Alto Ira
Licence types, jurisdictions and registered entities are in the Embedded Finance Index report.
The stack
3 layers disclosed in Alto Ira’s embedded-finance stack
Banking / BaaS
Sponsor bank
in the full report
Crypto
in the full report
Accounting gap: minor
2 more providers across 2 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.