Fortis Digital Ventures, a Bellevue-based blockchain investment fund, announced its launch Tuesday and is in the process of raising $100 million for a cryptocurrency fund.
Mike Boroughs, managing partner and co-founder of Forits Digital, said it already has 13 clients. It's is looking to manage risk in a volatile investing space, as the crypto markets have crashed in recent weeks.
"Even though the volatility is high, the returns way more than make up for it," Boroughs said. "What we always talk to people about is you don't want to put all your eggs in this basket because it is volatile. It needs to be a smaller allocation of your overall net worth, so probably somewhere between 3% to 10% depending on your age and your investment timeline and risk tolerance."
Fortis Digital owns cryptocurrencies that are not bitcoin, according to Boroughs, because investors can add bitcoin without investment professionals. Fortis Digital does all the legwork and research to try and dampen the volatility.
Clients, meanwhile, provide Fortis Digital with funds and receive a monthly statement to see how their investment is performing. Clients need at least a $2.5 million net worth to put money into the investment fund. The minimum threshold to invest is $250,000.
Fortis Digital is a partial subsidiary of registered investment adviser Fortis Financial Group, which has $250 million in assets under management and was also co-founded by Boroughs. Chris Capriccio, the former vice president of engineering at LegalZoom, is Fortis Digital's chief technology officer and other co-founder. Cameron Sikes, founder of Deep Ellum Capital, is the investment fund's head of business development.
Fortis Financial Group has 16 employees while Fortis Digital has three, according to Boroughs, but the firm is looking to grow. Sikes is based in Los Angeles, and Boroughs said he would like to add team members in the Northeast and Southeast to cover the U.S. Both Fortis Financial Group and Fortis Digital are housed in the same office in Bellefield Office Park.
"We got a great deal when Covid hit. We found a big sublease for a really good price, so we got way more space than we originally needed," Boroughs said.
