Q&A session with Raison CEO

Last week we held a Q&A session with our CEO, Alex. We had a lot of questions submitted regarding our VC Marketplace, recently introduced account plans, and more, and we went through most of them during our live stream.

If you want to watch the sessions, click the video above! And for those, who are fans of reading, we have a breakdown of all the questions below. Enjoy!

Can you give us an update on OpenAI and Discord? What happens to my money if I placed a Pre-Order?

We understand that many of you were eagerly anticipating the availability of these companies on our Marketplace, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Unfortunately, these deals were not easy to conclude.

On this note, if you happen to place an order for a company in a Pre-Order status, we are collecting financial interest for a potential deal. In case a Pre-order fails, as with OpenAI and Discord, we immediately issue a refund, and users receive their money back on their account.

While this is certainly disappointing news, we remain committed to bringing you the best products and services through our Marketplace.

You can still add multiple AI and media industry leaders to your portfolio by checking out our latest additions on the Marketplace!

Can you tell us more about the new account plans? What are the perks, and how can I upgrade?

Earlier this month, we announced our new feature, account plans – Growth and Wealth, in addition to our free Launch account!

• Launch: Your free account. Includes a basic set of investment features for each newly registered user.
• Growth: Activated from $10,000. Reach a new level of investment with special offers and lower fees.
• Wealth: Customized personally. Get the most from your wealth through exclusive conditions tailored to all your needs.

How do you upgrade your account?

Simple! Just head to our website and fill out the contact form for your desired plan or request the upgrade directly in the app. Once we receive your request, one of our managers will contact you to explain all the plan details.

What are the other features that we should expect soon?

Recently we acquired a new license, AFSA. The license allows us to provide the following regulated services:

• Dealing in Investments as Agent (Broker),
• Dealing in Investments as Principal (Dealer),
• Advising on Investments,
• Arranging Deals in Investments.

The broker license lets Raison's users buy U.S. stocks and bonds directly. We will launch stock trading in the app for all investors in the next 3-6 months. Before this, broker services, arranging investment deals, and investment advising will be accessible to a limited number of clients. And, of course, we continue providing venture investment deals.

How does the new $30M valuation affect Raison unit holders?

If you had previously invested in the Raison unit when it was available in the app, it is not affected by the change in valuation. As it's a debt investment, we mitigated the risks for the investors this way. So if in a bad case scenario, the investment is not affected.

Now that I have invested with Raison, can you tell me what happens?

To answer this question, let's break it down, starting with the basics.

How it works?

The Raison app uses a special investment fund to purchase companies' shares. A parent company manages the fund — Raison Asset Management, which is US SEC regulated.

To offer shares on our VC Marketplace, we create small fractions of the fund and deploy smart contracts to list units of a particular company.

That way, we lowered the entry ticket and enabled people to invest in prominent private companies like SpaceX, Klarna, ConsenSys, etc.

What do I get after investing?

When you purchase a unit, you buy a share in our fund, which holds shares of a particular company on its balance. A unit's smart contract guarantees the ownership right for the underlying company.

One unit is valued proportionally to one share of a particular company on the fund's balance.

In case a price per company share increases, a unit price will grow as well. You can double-check your ownership on explorer.celo.org and in our annual reports, audited by Baker Tilly.

How do I get profit?

In general, venture investors profit when the company they invested in increases its valuation. A private company's valuation does not update regularly but is confirmed after a new funding round is conducted. Unitholders on the Raison app gain profits exactly the same way, either when an underlying company increases its valuation.

To fix the profit, users have two exit strategies – to either wait for the company's IPO or sell the units on the secondary market (the secondary market is currently in a beta-testing stage).

What is the benefit of investing in pre-IPO and venture?

Besides investing in the biggest, most tech-innovative, and disrupting companies in the world, you get more profit. According to Pitchbook, venture capital investments show the highest returns over a 3, 5, and 10-year horizon compared to private equity, real estate, real assets, and private debt.

Despite being a long-term investment, late venture investments are less risky. They tend to have stable valuations, as these companies have working technology, proven business models, and backing from leading venture capital firms.

Remember, though, no investment is 100% risk-free.

Where do I get more information?

Prior to investing, we recommend you check out the How it works page, where you can get more information about how investing with Raison works. We also highly recommend checking all the attached documents under each company on the Marketplace directly in the app in order to get familiar with your ownership rights.