Monark secures $8.1m to expand retail private access

February 19, 2026

Monark Markets, a New York-based FinTech building infrastructure that connects brokerage firms and wealth platforms to private markets, has raised $8.1m in a strategic funding round to accelerate the expansion of its embedded investment rails.

The round was led by F-Prime, with participation from The Treasury, Commerce Ventures, Grit Capital Partners and BBAE Holdings.

The fresh capital will be used to grow Monark’s distribution network through integrations with additional brokerage and wealth management platforms, as well as to broaden access to new products and asset classes including evergreen funds, fractional real estate and secondary trading of private securities.

Monark’s API-first infrastructure already supports major FinTech platforms such as Apex Fintech Solutions, Altruist Financial and BBAE. Through these integrations, private market investments are embedded directly into existing customer accounts, reaching more than 30 million retail investors and $450bn of captive assets.

The platform provides access to Pre-IPO companies alongside 40 Act registered evergreen funds from established alternative asset managers.

As demand for private markets increases, Monark aims to address what it sees as a critical infrastructure gap for brokerage and wealth platforms. It claims many firms still lack the systems required to manage the full alternative investment lifecycle, including deal sourcing, subscription processing, custody and reporting, and secondary liquidity, within their native investor environments.

Monark’s embedded APIs enable platforms to offer private investments natively, with integrated compliance and marketing support. By embedding private market access into existing platforms, the company is seeking to create scalable, lower-cost distribution channels for issuers targeting the $27tn in private wealth held by mass-affluent and affluent US investors.

Monark also works closely with distribution partners to build a curated marketplace of private investment opportunities. This includes sourcing issuers, conducting due diligence and negotiating distribution economics. The company positions this end-to-end support as increasingly important as retail investors seek exposure to growth themes within private markets, such as US reindustrialisation, next-generation defence, AI, blockchain and space exploration.

Monark Markets CEO Ben Haber said, “We believe that retail portfolio allocation to private markets should and will grow to 15-20% over the next decade, mirroring the portfolio allocation of institutional investors and family offices.

“This structural shift in capital allocation from retail investors will drive trillions of dollars of investment into private markets, fueling demand for innovative investment products, new investment rails, and increased liquidity.”

F-Prime managing partner of the technology fund David Jegen said, “Alternative assets have experienced remarkable growth, growing from $5 trillion in 2011 to nearly $16 trillion today.

“Asset managers are seeking new retail investors to grow AUM, and financial advisors and a changing regulatory environment are guiding to higher allocations to alternatives. Ben, Paul, and the team at Monark are building the digital rails that will make this expansion possible at scale.”