Fintech Caruso secures $3.2m from private credit giant Balmain
Balmain’s investment accelerates Caruso’s global expansion, as the fintech disrupts fund management with $15 billion in assets under administration.
In an opportunistic capital raise, registry and fund administration platform Caruso has secured a $3.2 million strategic investment from Balmain — one of Australia’s leading private credit firms — accelerating the fintech’s expansion plans ahead of its intended 2026 fundraising timeline.
"We weren't actually actively out here capital raising, so it's been opportunistic," said Mark Hurley, co-CEO and co-founder of Caruso, speaking from the company's newly established Dallas office. The investment materialised during a routine business development trip to Australia, where Balmain was initially on Caruso’s “target client list".
Caruso, founded in 2023 in New Zealand but now largely based in Australia, is growing rapidly. Its platform is used to manage $15 billion in assets across more than 400 funds and 27,000 investors. Its platform aims to streamline operations for fund managers by consolidating multiple software systems into a single interface.
"If you look at most fund managers today, particularly unlisted or private fund managers, most of them will have three to six different softwares managing investor data," Hurley said. "They'll have some sort of onboarding and AML/KYC tool, an investor portal, CRM, a unit registry manager... and usually these systems aren't integrated or are poorly integrated."
