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Rally (company)

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Rally
IndustryAlternative asset investment
Founded2016
Headquarters
New York
Websiterallyrd.com

Rally is an alternative asset investment company which allows users to buy and sell equity shares in collectible assets including sports cards, memorabilia, classic cars, graded comic books, vintage watches, and first edition literature.[1] The company was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in New York.[2]

Overview

The company was originally founded under the name "Rally Rd." Rally initially securitized classic cars and had a collection of nearly 30 vehicles. Each car was listed in a process similar to an initial public offering, with the first offering for a vehicle being completed in 2017.[3][4] Since 2019, Rally expanded to providing more than 300 assets across categories including items such as art, wine, watches, sports collectibles, natural history artifacts, musical instruments and first-edition books.[5]

Rally registers each collectible item on its platform with the SEC as a security.[1] Investment cars are not registered for road use, but are stored in private warehouses in locations such as Upstate New York or Pennsylvania.[6]

As of March 2021, Rally had approximately 200,000 users with nearly $30 million of merchandise. The company has developed mobile applications for Android and iPhone devices.[2][7]

Funding

In January 2018, Rally raised a $2.9 million seed round led by Social Leverage and other angel investors.[8] In 2020, the company closed a $17 million oversubscribed financing round,[citation needed] while in May 2021, it raised $30 million in Series B funding led by Accel with other investors including Upfront Ventures and Social Leverage.[citation needed]

In October 2021, Rally raised $15 million follow-on to their Series B round led by Wheelhouse, with participation from Josh Richards, Griffin Johnson, Noah Beck, John Stamos, Connor Schell, and Bill Simmons.[9] The total funding of the company since inception is approximately $65 million.[10][11]

Business model

Rally has a fractional ownership model for those in the investing and the enthusiast communities.[12] The company sources a collectible for sale and creates a new entity as a subsidiary of an LLC. The startup then holds an SEC-registered offering where potential investors can view details about the collectible and, if desired, purchase one or more of the divided equity shares. When the offering is completed, there’s a 3-month hold period, after which the company’s mobile application provides a monthly trading window where new users can place bids and existing investors can place asks, allowing the equity shares to be traded on a marketplace.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b Harris, Ainsley (10 March 2020). "At last, you can become a shareholder in a Birkin bag or a Lamborghini". Fast Company.
  2. ^ a b Moore, Logan (29 September 2020). "Memorabilia-Trading App Rally Raises $17 Million". The Wall Street Journal.
  3. ^ Jasinski, Nicholas (17 January 2019). "Invest in a 1980 Lamborghini? There's an App for That". Barron's.
  4. ^ "Rally Rd. Expands Investment Offerings". Yahoo News. 11 July 2019.
  5. ^ Sullivan, Paul (26 July 2019). "Want to Own a Warhol? Now, You Can Buy a Piece of One". The New York Times.
  6. ^ Campbell, Bryan (2019-03-01). "Classic Car Investments Made Easy: The Rally Rd. App". Gear Patrol. Retrieved 2022-05-20.
  7. ^ Bernstein, Jacob (20 March 2021). "Here's How Bored Rich People Are Spending Their Extra Cash". The New York Times.
  8. ^ a b Tepper, Fitz (30 January 2018). "Rally Road lets you buy and sell equity shares in classic cars". TechCrunch.
  9. ^ White, Peter (13 October 2021). "Wheelhouse Leads $15M Investment Round In Collectibles Firm Rally, Will Debut Items On History's 'Pawn Stars'". Deadline.
  10. ^ Jackson, Eric (13 October 2021). "Collectibles App Rally Raises $15 Million More as Stars Pile In". Penske Media Corporation.
  11. ^ Casey, Tim (16 October 2020). "Online Investment Platform Offering Shares Of 1937 Heisman Trophy, Other Sports Memorabilia". Forbes.
  12. ^ Sullivan, Paul (31 July 2020). "Can't Afford a Birkin Bag or a Racehorse? You Can Invest in One". The New York Times.
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