Wealth management startup CREST has raised $3.1 Mn (₹29.3 Cr) in a pre-seed funding round led by Atrium Ventures, BEENEXT, DeVC, Sparrow, Shastra VC, Warmup Ventures and 91ventures

The funding round also saw participation from over 40 angel investors including SlideShare’s Amit Ranjan, GoKwik’s Chirag Taneja, Mosaic Wellness’ Revant Bhate, Bombay Shaving Company’s Shantanu Deshpande, among others. 

The fresh capital will allow the recently established new-age asset management company to strengthen its tech platform, expand its family office and investment teams, deepen regulatory and compliance capabilities, and build its asset management offerings across global and Indian public markets and real estate.

Founded in 2025 by ex-LEAP India VP Zuhaib Khan and former Welspun One’s co-chief investment officer Girish Singhi, CREST provides family office and wealth management services, helping high-net-worth individuals, family businesses and institutions manage investments, asset allocation, succession planning and estate planning.

The Mumbai-based startup is targeting India’s “top 0.01%” as clients for its “fractional family office”. In a statement, the startup said that it works exclusively with founders, business owners, and Value Creators of Asia.

It operates as an invite and referral-only advisory platform, where buy-side teams work with families to provide them with CIO, CFO, and COO functionalities.

The startup has initially launched with asset allocation services.

“We handle tax structuring, succession planning, estate planning, holding structures, business governance and next-generation readiness — everything a family office does, in one place,” Singhi said.

CREST is entering a market that has traditionally been served by established wealth management and family office firms. According to the UBS Global Wealth Report, India is home to more than 9 Lakh millionaires, a figure expected to nearly double by 2030, alongside the creation of $2.4 Tn in new financial wealth.

Against this backdrop, firms like Waterfield Advisors and Julius Baer India have built sizable family office and wealth advisory businesses catering to affluent individuals and families. CREST is looking to differentiate itself by offering what it describes as an incentive-aligned, fiduciary-first and retrocession-free model for both domestic and international investors.

The opportunity extends beyond traditional wealth preservation. Family offices, which were once largely focused on real estate, equities and fixed-income investments, have increasingly emerged as active participants in India’s startup ecosystem through alternative investments.

According to Inc42 data, domestic family offices have backed more than 230 Indian startups to date. Mumbai remains the country’s most active hub for such investments, with around 62 family offices participating in startup funding.

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