Backed by VanEck Ventures, Lattice Fund, Compound, and SALT, Manifest turns institutional-grade U.S. real estate into a scalable, globally investable asset—accessible in under 30 seconds.
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Manifest, the first company to successfully bring U.S. private equity real estate onchain in a scalable and liquid form, has announced a $2.5M pre-seed round co-led by VanEck Ventures and Lattice Fund, with participation from Compound and SALT. Emerging from CV and Alliance, leading crypto accelerators, Manifest is redefining how investors access the $35 trillion U.S. home equity market, facilitating institutional-grade investments in under 30 seconds.
“American real estate is among the most stable and high-performing asset classes in history. International investor demand is already tens of billions of dollars a year, but for many of these users, investing in U.S. real estate is like eating glass,” said Nathaniel Sokoll-Ward, CEO and Co-Founder of Manifest. “Traditional investing has been hamstrung by high transaction costs, operational burdens, and geographic restrictions. Manifest changes that. We combine the global reach of Bitcoin with the practical, native utility of stablecoins – to finally make institutional-grade real estate investable for anyone, anywhere at the speed of blockchain.”
The Problem: Tokenized Real Estate Hasn’t Worked – Until Now
Previous attempts at real estate tokenization have focused on fractionalizing direct ownership, which unhelpfully recreates the problems of being a landlord - high fees, illiquidity, complex taxation, and management overhead. These efforts failed because they didn’t solve the fundamental barriers to scaling real estate investment nor did they make the most exciting investments accessible to global investors.
The Solution: A Real Estate Investment Product That Scales Like Software
Similar to how stablecoins scale by tapping into the unlimited supply of U.S. Treasuries, Manifest scales by unlocking $35 trillion in U.S. home equity – without operational overhead. Manifest addresses both accessibility and scalability challenges through two key innovations:
| 1. | Integration with DeFi: For the first time, Manifest supplies U.S. real estate in a form that can reach $3 trillion in onchain capital without friction, unlocking a massive new market for stablecoin holders and real-world asset (RWA) investors. |
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| 2. | A Scalable Real Estate Model: Unlike traditional real estate investments that require active management, Manifest’s offering is backed by Home Equity Investments (HEIs), an exclusive Wall Street asset that scales efficiently – offering exposure to U.S. home price appreciation without the burden of ownership or property management. For the first time, global real estate investors will have access to predictable yield, high quality collateral, and secondary market liquidity onchain. |
Introducing $USH: Tokenized Real Estate That Wins Where Others Fail
Manifest is flipping the traditional real estate investment model with $USH, a tokenized real estate vehicle backed by Home Equity Investments (HEIs). Whereas traditional real estate investments require high capital commitments and long holding periods, $USH enables seamless, onchain access to institutional-grade real estate with the liquidity and efficiency of stablecoins. $USH offers:
- Institutional-Grade Exposure: Private equity-style access to U.S. residential, owner-occupied housing, but with liquidity, lower fees, and operational efficiency.
- Massive Off-Market Discounts: Capital is deployed with speed, enabling property investments at ~50% discounts to fair market home values.
- Global Accessibility: Anyone, anywhere can invest in U.S. real estate with the simplicity of buying Bitcoin.
- Tax-Efficient Structure: Designed for perpetual tax deferral, $USH maximizes reinvestment potential.
- Composability in DeFi: $USH tokens can be leveraged, borrowed, and used across DeFi protocols for additional yield opportunities.
- Real-Time Transparency: Every asset is recorded onchain, allowing investors unprecedented access to portfolio composition, valuations, and collateral health.
"The future of real estate investment is tokenized, fractionalized, and accessible to all. With Manifest, everyday investors all over the world can now invest in high quality real estate with a few taps on their phone. VanEck is proud to back Manifest in their mission to democratize wealth creation for the most valuable asset class on the planet,” said Wyatt Lonergan, General Partner at VanEck Ventures.
Manifest was founded by Nathaniel Sokoll-Ward and Robert V. Lee, industry veterans with deep expertise in finance, technology, and real estate. Nathaniel, a repeat founder, previously built and exited Roostify, which powered $600B in mortgages for Chase and HSBC. Robert, a former Deloitte strategy consultant, spent 10 years advising Fortune 500 companies on finance and innovation.
“At Lattice, we back founders who are rethinking how value is created and exchanged onchain. Manifest is pioneering permissionless real-world investing, bridging traditional finance with crypto-native infrastructure. They’re starting by making U.S. real estate more liquid and globally accessible while maintaining the trust and transparency investors demand. This is exactly the kind of innovation we look for—projects that use blockchain to unlock real-world assets at scale,” said Mike Zajko, co-founder and General Partner at Lattice Fund.
What’s Next for Manifest?
The $2.5M pre-seed round will support product development and key strategic partnerships as Manifest prepares to launch $USH, its real estate-backed token. The funding will also drive DeFi integrations and the launch of new financial instruments, further expanding the ability for global investors to access and leverage U.S. assets.
For more information on Manifest, visit manifest.finance.
About Manifest
Manifest is a financial protocol that leverages blockchain technology to create useful institutional-grade financial products. Manifest is the first to successfully bring U.S. real estate onchain, making it investable in under 30 seconds. Manifest unlocks global access to the most lucrative American assets without the friction of traditional investing. Learn more at manifest.finance.
Contacts
Kayla Gill | Serotonin
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Cameron Thomas | VerbFactory
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