AKRU announces appointment of Will Powers as Chief Operating Officer

By Edlyn Cardoza

AKRU, a new real estate investment company that built the first blockchain-based trading platform which allows fractional investments, recently announced that alternative investment industry veteran Will Powers has joined the company as Chief Operating Officer. AKRU has been backed by several esteemed Venture Capital firms, including Southern-California based Draper Goren Holm, a venture studio focused on accelerating blockchain and crypto startups.

As part of AKRU’s continued investment in its platform’s development, Powers will oversee its operations as head of capital markets, responsible for raising capital through Registered Investment Advisors and family offices. Powers brings to the role over 30 years of experience in the investment industry with more than two decades of those spent capital raising for alternative investments.

Prior to this appointment, Powers was CEO of Alternative Advisers, a consulting firm to new sponsors and assisted with building out selling groups, distribution, and ultimately capital raising. Before Alternative Advisers, Powers helped launch several successful sponsors and products, including Dividend Capital, Preferred Apartments, and ING Funds.

“AKRU is changing the way we look at investing in real estate — they are truly a market disruptor and leader in this new technology,” said Powers. “I look forward to being part of the senior management team and helping guide the company to transform the commercial real estate market and how people invest in it.”

Having driven growth at startup firms by raising hundreds of millions in capital and successfully launching a slew of new products, Powers will also focus on onboarding new real estate assets to AKRU’s platform. The platform will give investors access to institutional-grade real estate in all sectors, including multi-family, office, retail, industrial, and other, but in much smaller bites.

“We’re so excited to welcome Will to the team — he is a capital markets veteran with a proven track record of understanding the real estate market and we are confident his unique qualifications will help us expand our platform,” AKRU Founder and CEO Mohsin Masud said.

Powers is joining AKRU as the company eyes an international expansion. AKRU currently has assets on the platform located in the Midwest but intends to expand into other regions, including the Sun Belt and South, the U.S. coasts, and in the coming years, across the European Union and Asia. AKRU also plans to launch more key features to the platform within the quarter, including margin trading.