Looking to invest in cloud computing in the Boston area? Or maybe a Boston IT Help Desk? Well Motif Investing seems like a new popular way to make investments like these a reality. You choose to invest upon ideas and thoughts rather than specific commodities or stocks, which has before now been completely unheard of. You can invest in “cloud computing or democracy in the Middle East” is the example in the text below. I think this is a pretty creative idea, and it certainly has the financing being backed by wealthy individuals who have obviously succeeded before in life. It will be interesting to watch this business grow and flourish.
Motif Investing, a new vehicle that allows you to invest in ideas, has raised $20 million in Series B financing led by Ignition Partners with participation from Norwest Venture Partners and Foundation Capital. This brings the company’s total funding to $26 million.
Motif, which is in private beta, was founded by former Microsoft executive Hardeep Walia and hedge fund analyst Tariq Hilaly to give individuals a new way to invest based on themes. Instead of choosing to buy stock in specific companies, Motif allows investors to invest in different portfolios of stocks, each called a “motif,” that are centered around everyday ideas. For example, motifs can be built around themes and ideas ranging from cloud computing to democracy in the Middle East. In addition, each motif can be customized to meet an individual’s ideas or needs.
Walia gives the example of “cloud computing” or “mobile internet” as growth areas that have seen significant gains over the past few years but he says most people don’t know how to map these ideas into an actual investment.
For example, there’s a lot of current buzz around the impact the debt ceiling negotiations is going to have on interest rates in the US. Suppose you were reading a news story about how interest rates are likely to rise and decided that you would like to invest in rising interest rates. How would you do this? If you have a money manager, you could call him or her, but it’s not an easy task.
To read the full text of this article found on Tech Crunch.com, click here. What are your thoughts on this new company and their unheard of form of investing? Would you invest in an idea like cloud computing?
