NEW YORK & SINGAPORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Abra, a global platform for digital asset prime services and wealth management, announced today the appointment of Shervin Pishevar, a veteran venture capitalist, angel investor and philanthropist, to its Board of Directors as Co-Chairman. Shervin will work directly with Bill Barhydt, Abra’s Founder and CEO, who will also become Co-Chairman, on strategic initiatives to capitalize on the strong growth that Abra has achieved this year.
Pishevar is a seasoned entrepreneur and top investor with a career that spans multiple industries. Pishevar has helped start the Hyperloop, Social Gaming, On Demand, Cloud Kitchen and New Cities-Network States industries. He is the co-founder of Sherpa Capital, a leading venture capital firm with $650m under management with investments in the likes of Uber, Airbnb, SpaceX, Slack, Robinhood and others. He was also co-founder and first Executive Chairman of Virgin Hyperloop One, a company based on Elon Musk‘s Hyperloop concept. At Uber he was an early member of the Board of Directors as well as a strategic advisor to the board and founder Travis Kalanick. Prior to co-founding Sherpa Capital, he was a Managing Director at Menlo Ventures where he led the Series B financing in Uber and also invested in Tumblr, Warby Parker and many other prominent start-ups. Pishevar has been a four-time Midas List investor, which ranks the top 100 VCs by returns, and has distributed over $3B in profits to investors across all of his investments and funds with an average 88% IRR.
Shervin joins Abra at a pivotal time in the company’s growth. Since the launch of Abra's integrated offerings — Abra Prime for institutions, Abra Private for private clients and Abra Treasury for corporates — the company has experienced strong growth across all three business lines. Over the past six months:
- Abra Private has grown from zero to ~$250M in assets under management in less than six months from a mixture of private clients, trusts and financial advisors. Popular products include loans against BTC and a proprietary BTC yield strategy.
- Abra Prime has expanded its capabilities with the launch of an OTC options trading solution and has grown its client base by 48% from a mixture of crypto miners, ATMs and funds.
- Abra Treasury was also recently awarded Best Treasury Management Solution from Hedgeweek for their groundbreaking work in making separately managed accounts available to corporations and nonprofits as a safe way to add Bitcoin and crypto to company balance sheets.
“We’re delighted to welcome Shervin Pishevar to our board as Co-Chairman following one of the most exciting periods in Abra’s history,” said Bill Barhydt, CEO of Abra. “Shervin is not only one of the most successful venture capitalists in Silicon Valley but is also a true believer in the power of Bitcoin and crypto to create a future of financial services that is digital, open and borderless. His experience and expertise will be invaluable as we continue to expand the company, invest in growth and even look to make strategic acquisitions in the future.”
Pishevar added, “I have known Bill and the Abra team for many years, and he and his team have created one of the only digital asset firms to have weathered multiple market cycles. I am excited to join Abra during such a dynamic time in its evolution and look forward to working closely with the team to realize their vision of bringing banking, investing and lending into the 21st century. We have many exciting announcements to come that systemically change how the world works.”
About Abra
Abra is a global platform for digital asset prime services and wealth management, leveraging trusted DeFi expertise to connect the on-chain and off-chain ecosystems for private clients and institutions. By integrating trading, borrowing, lending, yield services and asset management into one offering, all underpinned by institutional risk management, Abra provides clients with actionable insights and a competitive edge. Abra’s client base includes a diverse range of private clients, family offices, hedge funds, venture capital and crypto infrastructure firms. https://www.abra.com/. More information about Abra Capital Management LP, including our Form ADV Part 2A Brochure, is available at the SEC’s website, http://www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.
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