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By Martin Halblaub, Founder and Executive Chairman of Estating, the fintech for real estate wealth management
Real estate is the world's largest asset class, yet it remains disconnected from the regulated wealth management ecosystem. Advisors lack seamless access and are disintermediated by B2B-offerings. Asset partners face high distribution hurdles. Investors can’t conveniently access and manage their real estate like they do stocks or bonds.
Estating was built to solve this by institutionalizing real estate within wealth management — structured, bankable, and advised — without disrupting trusted advisory relationships. We’ve created a fully owned and operated digital platform, integrating origination, structuring, issuance, distribution to B2B clients, custody, pricing, and lifecycle management into a seamless value chain. Our system delivers uncompromising trust—creating a transparent ecosystem where advisors, investors, and originators operate with complete confidence and clarity.
Estating operates a fully owned and operated platform built from the ground up to handle:
Our financial technology is extensible: partners can use Estating-as-a-Service (EaaS), to bring their own assets via us on their platform or private bank ecosystem and further enhance share of wallet.
Performance Engineering: Where Risk Meets Reward by Design
Estating was born in March 2020—just days before COVID reshuffled global priorities. When we formalized our incorporation later in May, our founding team embraced an audacious vision: democratizing institutional-grade real estate investment through innovative securities structures.
The pandemic transformed our remote-first approach from necessity into strategic advantage. Following angel funding, we validated our model with what stands as perhaps financial history's most modest real estate securitization—a €10,000 Spanish property transaction processed through Swiss accounts via international clearing systems.
This deliberate microtransaction wasn't merely symbolic—it demonstrated our core thesis: that sophisticated real estate investment vehicles could be democratized without sacrificing structural integrity or investor protection.
Our highly-skilled Armenian engineering team, masterfully led by co-founder Vahe Andonians, created a technological foundation that stood years ahead of market readiness—an advantage that paradoxically complicated our product-market alignment. The simultaneous eruption of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War created profound operational challenges, with pandemic restrictions blocking talent mobility while some team members answered their nation's call to arms. This convergence of geopolitical disruption and market-timing challenges revealed an essential truth about innovation leadership: behind every transformative financial platform lies not just technical brilliance, but extraordinary human resilience navigating genuine uncertainty.
A strong seed round allowed us to push forward. We delivered the MVP while still under COVID restrictions, which made opening the LATAM client base brought in by co-founder Daniel Vegue nearly impossible to service from Switzerland.
This was the year of strategic clarity — and also tremendous uncertainty. While we pivoted from limiting ourselves to core assets toward offering a broader range of tailored products required by Financial Advisors to cater for their investors’ needs, the world around us was shifting. The Russian invasion of Ukraine sent economic and geopolitical shockwaves, but closer to home, renewed tensions and escalations in Armenia created new uncertainty for our tech operations and emotional strain for our team. The global financial industry also faced seismic shifts — most notably, the absorption of Credit Suisse by UBS, a symbolic moment that shook long-held assumptions about legacy financial stability and reinforced our conviction to build future-proof infrastructure from the ground up. Despite these challenges, our pivot succeeded: our expanded product offering allowed us to respond to real investor needs and build curated portfolios — which ultimately delivered product-market fit and our first revenues.
When Daniel and I recognized our transformative potential, we made the decisive call to double down on our vision while our fellow co-founders pursued new horizons. This wasn't merely restructuring—it was unleashing our execution capacity.
Armed with strategic bridge financing and boots-on-ground talent in key markets, we rapidly accelerated transaction volumes beyond projections. The results spoke volumes: Estating had transcended theoretical potential to become a market-proven engine of financial innovation.
This pivotal moment confirmed our foundational belief: in financial transformation, vision creates opportunity—but relentless execution delivers the extraordinary returns that redefine markets.
In early 2024, we faced a corporate liquidity squeeze — the result of focusing too aggressively on growth in late 2023. It was a pivotal moment that required a strategic reset. We rebalanced towards cost-controlled expansion, implemented leaner operations, and made profitability our top priority. These efforts culminated in reaching break-even, proving our ability to build a scalable business model with long-term profitability. The platform matured, volumes scaled, and client loyalty confirmed the robustness and value of our solution.
We've now entered our Series A phase—not merely as a capital-raising exercise, but as a strategic alliance opportunity with partners who share our transformative vision. As 2025 unfolds, we're navigating new waves of market volatility triggered by the reintroduction of Trump-era economic policies. From capital market volatility and shifting trade expectations to new policy priorities in real estate and infrastructure, the environment has become more polarized and uncertain. The journey has been anything but linear. But in hindsight, every challenge shaped the resilience, adaptability, and precision we now bring to the market.
Yet amid these market tremors, Estating’s value proposition is stronger than ever: hard assets, regulated access, trusted advisors, and a global financial infrastructure ready to scale. Real estate remains the anchor in uncertain waters, and Estating is the vessel that keeps it afloat inside professional portfolios.
Our forward strategy is rooted in doing more of what already works exceptionally well: providing U.S.-based real estate products to LATAM-based wealth managers and investors. This combination continues to generate strong demand, deliver predictable yield, and deepen advisor relationships.
We will build on this base by expanding our geographic footprint both in terms of asset jurisdiction and distribution markets. New asset jurisdictions will be selectively onboarded to meet the growing appetite for diversification, while our distribution focus will evolve from a LATAM-first strategy to a more global approach.
The business case is robust. But the strategic optionality is even greater:
The Time for Transformation is Now
Series A momentum is building — with limited allocation remaining for strategic partners who bring network strength, product synergies, or distribution capabilities. This represents likely the final opportunity to secure meaningful participation.
For visionaries who understand that:
The invitation stands: Partner. Platform. Investor.
The future of private wealth isn't coming—it's being built today. Will you help define it?
Figure 1. Savills Research. (2023, September). Total value of global real estate: Property remains the world's biggest store of wealth.
https://impacts.savills.com/market-trends/the-total-value-of-global-real-estate-property-remains-the-worlds-biggest-store-of-wealth.html
The views, analyses, and perspectives presented in this Letter are offered for informational and educational purposes only. While reflecting Martin Halblaub’s vision and insights, this communication should not be construed as investment advice, a recommendation to buy or sell securities, or a solicitation of any investment product or service.
Financial markets involve inherent risks, and past performance discussed herein is not indicative of future results. The strategies, opportunities, and observations outlined are reflective of current conditions and subject to change as market dynamics evolve.
Each investor's circumstances, objectives, and risk tolerance are unique. We strongly encourage readers to consult with qualified financial, legal, and tax professionals before making any investment decisions based on information contained in this document.
Our commitment to transparency and shareholder value drives us to share these insights, but prudent investment decisions ultimately rest with you and your trusted advisors.
