# Rick Kushel

> Rick Kushel is a Series A investor at FINTOP Capital (St Louis) backing Software and FinTech. See 17 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [FINTOP Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/fintop-capital)
- Location: St Louis, United States
- Total investments: 17
- Last investment: Jan 2026
- Lead investor: 82%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rickkushel/

Rick Kushel is a Series A investor at FINTOP Capital in St Louis focused on Software and FinTech. Rick Kushel, General Partner at FINTOP Capital, was most recently a strategic advisor to the Innovations portfolio at The Blackstone Group. He joined Blackstone in 2007 to lead a technology spinout which became iLevel Solutions. Rick put together an investment consortium consisting of Blackstone, Carlyle Group, Duff & Phelps, and Hamilton Lane.Rick was CEO of iLevel before it was acquired by Ipreo in 2015.Prior to Blackstone, Rick was Chairman and CEO of Archive Systems, Inc., a leading on-demand document management company he founded in 1991. During his tenure, Archive Systems, Inc. achieved 14 years of double-digit revenue growth, grew to 250 employees, and raised over $20M in venture capital from Carlyle Group, Edison Ventures, and NJTC Venture Fund. Rick served on Archive System, Inc.'s board until its recent sale to Access Information Management.Rick is an active angel investor, a frequent public speaker and guest lecturer on venture capital and entrepreneurship. He received a B.S. in Chemistry and Business from James Madison University.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Software | 10 | 59% |
| FinTech | 5 | 29% |
| Artificial Intelligence | 5 | 29% |
| Financial Services | 4 | 24% |
| Information Technology | 4 | 24% |

27 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Series A | 10 | 59% |
| Venture - Series Unknown | 3 | 18% |
| Seed | 2 | 12% |
| Funding Round | 2 | 12% |

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| United States | 13 | 76% |
| Italy | 1 | 6% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | 6% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Gridline | Gridline is a digital wealth platform that revolutionizes private market investing by providing individual investors with access to top-performing alternative asset managers, enabling them to build diversified portfolios in a matter of minutes through a fully digital experience. | $18.5M | Series A | Jan 27, 2026 |  |
| DiligentIQ | DiligentIQ is a generative AI-driven platform that enhances due diligence processes by analyzing VDR content and proprietary data sets. It identifies hidden opportunities and risks, accelerates the identification of operating risks, and uncovers cost/revenue synergies post-closing. The platform is utilized across various alternative assetclasses, including private equity, private credit, and infrastructure. | $12M | Series A | Feb 18, 2025 |  |
| Cardo AI | Cardo AI is the software, intelligence and infrastructure company innovating the structured finance market that helps investors, issuers, servicers and lenders transact faster, better, and with lower costs.Our technology has facilitated the efficient management of over €18bn assets, standardizing data coming from 100+ systems all over the world.Access your demo today: https://cardoai.com/request-a-demo/Want to come to innovate with us? Check our job openings: https://cardoai.com/talent/ | $15M | Series A | Nov 20, 2024 |  |
| VRGL | VRGL specializes in offering data analytics, portfolio performance, investment strategies, and guidance for wealth management businesses. | $6M | Venture - Series Unknown | Aug 29, 2024 |  |
| Helix by HL | Helix by HL is an AI assistant that simplifies private market investment and enables wealth advisors to confidently traverse private markets. | $6M | Seed | Dec 07, 2023 |  |
| Pulsora | Pulsora is an enterprise environmental, social, and governance software as a service platform. pulsESG is based in San Francisco, California. | $20M | Series A | Sep 12, 2023 |  |
| VRGL | VRGL specializes in offering data analytics, portfolio performance, investment strategies, and guidance for wealth management businesses. | $15M | Series A | Aug 30, 2022 |  |
| HazelTree | HazelTree offers a comprehensive Treasury Management solution enabling hedge funds and institutional investors to clearly view, analyze and optimize all cash rates, pricing on debit/credit balances and collateral balances across all counterparties – from a single vantage point. HazelTree’s proprietary system effectively moves the TreasuryManagement function from the back office to a powerful, proactive performance enhancement and risk mitigation system. | $14M | Venture - Series Unknown | Aug 23, 2022 |  |
| Fairwords | Fairwords is the AI-powered communications protection software that proactively trains as employees type to foster inclusive, compliant, and fair business communications. They help to determine the efficacy of HR and compliance programs through anonymous dashboards and analytics that provide insight into how teams are communicating. This supports asafe, compliant, and ethical workplace. | $5.3M | Series A | Feb 02, 2022 |  |
| Pulsora | Pulsora is an enterprise environmental, social, and governance software as a service platform. pulsESG is based in San Francisco, California. | $8.5M | Seed | Oct 20, 2021 |  |

10 of 17 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Hamilton Lane](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/hamilton-lane) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- [Flyover Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/flyovercapital) — VC Fund, 3 deals together
- [Builders VC](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/builders) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Fin Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/fin-venture-capital) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [JAM FINTOP](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/jam-fintop) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [MissionOG](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/missionog) — VC Fund, 2 deals together

## About FINTOP Capital

VC Fund · Nashville, United States

FINTOP Capital seeks B2B SaaS companies in the FinTech space. Target companies have a proven product in the market, real revenues, and are helmed by veterans of the industries they're looking to shape. The firm was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.

5 contacts available at FINTOP Capital.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Jared Winegrad | Managing Director | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/jared-winegrad |
| Rick Kushel | General Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/rick-kushel |
| Brittani Roberts | Principal | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/brittani-roberts |
| Chris Haley | General partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/chris-haley-4f52 |
| CJ Fayne | Associate | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/cj-fayne |

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### Similar stage
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- [General Catalyst](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/general-catalyst-partners) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does Rick Kushel invest in?

Rick Kushel invests primarily in Software, FinTech and Artificial Intelligence startups, most often at Series A and Venture - Series Unknown stage. Most of the 17 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did Rick Kushel last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Rick Kushel closed in Jan 2026. Shizune tracks 17 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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