Velvet front-end for private secondaries

This move matters because it lets Velvet sit at the point where research work turns into an actual trade. The AI product already helps funds read decks, structure data rooms, draft memos, and map co investors. Adding Templum gives Velvet regulated market plumbing for private securities, so a user can move from evaluating a company to buying or selling exposure through the same front end.

• Templum is not just a referral partner. It operates broker dealer and ATS infrastructure for private securities, and also offers white label marketplace tools. That means Velvet can focus on user workflow and distribution, while Templum handles onboarding, execution, and secondary market mechanics.
  3 prnewswire 4 templuminc 5 finra
• Velvet is trying to avoid the problem Carta hit with CartaX. The product is built as a daily diligence workspace first, with customer data kept in separate private environments. The marketplace is meant to appear after user intent is already formed, instead of trying to force trades from cap table data.
  1 sacra 2 sacra 6 sacra
• The real comparable is less a pure software tool and more a Bloomberg plus exchange model for private markets. Velvet has said it has processed 12,000 deals and completed about $220M of private placements, with transaction fees of 2% to 5% alongside annual SaaS contracts. That creates a path from seat revenue to higher value fee revenue.
  1 sacra 2 sacra

Going forward, the strongest private market platforms will be the ones that own the investor workflow before they own the trade. If Velvet can keep becoming the place where small and mid sized funds evaluate deals every day, the marketplace layer can turn that usage into repeat liquidity, co investment, and secondaries volume.