Aqua Raises $18.8m to Build Turnkey Alternatives Platform for Wealth Managers

Aqua has introduced a turnkey alternative investments platform (TAIP) backed by $18.8m in funding, positioning the company squarely at the operational seam where private wealth firms are trying to build alternatives capability.

The funding structure

The capital is split between a $3.8m seed round supported by Google's AI Fund, Y Combinator and other investors, and a $15m Series A led by Arthur Ventures with participation from Alumni Ventures.

According to the company, the money will go towards faster business and product development and growth in its engineering and partnership teams. It will also support broader integrations with custodians and fund sponsors.

Who the platform is built for

The TAIP is aimed at wealth managers, RIAs, banks, trust companies and fund sponsors seeking to create, oversee and expand alternatives programmes.

Aqua says the platform is intended to replace the mix of separate marketplaces, manual processes and spreadsheets that many firms still rely on. According to the company, it combines fund creation, operational processes, investment lifecycle oversight, marketplace connectivity, document intelligence and investor servicing within a single system — allowing firms to shape their own alternatives approach and expand it at their own pace.

The company frames the platform as infrastructure for repeatable, scalable alternatives strategies rather than a single marketplace or point solution.

Leadership and stated rationale

Aqua was founded by Rohan Marwaha, who previously worked on technology and alternative investment solutions for large alternative asset managers. David Coyle, also part of the leadership team, has more than 25 years of experience in technology adoption at advisory firms. Joe Ujobai, head of growth partnerships, has worked in financial services and technology for more than 35 years, including leadership positions in private banking and international expansion.

Marwaha said firms have already transformed how they manage traditional investments through technology, and that as access to alternatives becomes increasingly democratised, they need similar infrastructure to build repeatable, scalable alternatives strategies. He said Aqua was built around the way today's advisors operate, so they can develop customised alternatives programmes without having to manage the systems behind them.

The operational gap being targeted

The launch speaks to a persistent friction point in private wealth: alternatives allocation is growing in strategic importance, yet the operational layer supporting it is often fragmented. Firms assembling alternatives offerings frequently contend with disjointed marketplaces, manual workflows and spreadsheet-based oversight.

Aqua's proposition is consolidation — fund creation, operations, lifecycle oversight and investor servicing under one roof — with custodian and fund sponsor integrations flagged as a funded priority. For banks and trust companies weighing whether to build or buy alternatives infrastructure, the platform's stated intent is to let them set their own pace rather than restructure around a fixed system.

The scale of the raise, with Google's AI Fund and Y Combinator in the seed round and Arthur Ventures leading the Series A, suggests investor appetite for picks-and-shovels providers serving wealth managers' alternatives ambitions rather than direct asset exposure. Whether that appetite translates into adoption across RIAs and private banks will depend on execution against the integrations Aqua has said the capital will support.