Crowd Street, a private market investment platform that provides accredited investors with access to professionally managed private market investment opportunities, has appointed Chris Piazza as Chief Technology Officer and Lindsay Obenhaus as Head of Product. The appointments reinforce the Portland, Oregon-based company's continued investment in the technology that powers modern private market investing.

As Crowd Street expands its relationships with fund managers and distribution partners, the new leadership strengthens its ability to deliver a streamlined platform experience for accredited investors. The additions reflect Crowd Street's ongoing buildout of the technology infrastructure that helps fund managers efficiently bring private market investment opportunities to market, while enabling accredited investors to discover, evaluate, and invest through an intuitive experience. Together, Piazza and Obenhaus will help advance the platform's technology strategy as the company continues to scale. The hires also come as the broader industry pushes to digitize private market access: private equity, private credit, and real estate have historically been dominated by institutional investors, and platforms across wealth management are investing in technology that can extend such offerings to individual investors and the advisors who serve them.

"Private markets are entering a new era of growth and accessibility, and the technology behind them has never been more important," said John Imbriglia, Chief Executive Officer of Crowd Street. "We're building a platform that makes it easier to bring private market investments to more investors through a streamlined digital experience. Chris and Lindsay have built this type of technology at scale, and they'll play a critical role in helping us execute our vision."

As Chief Technology Officer, Piazza will lead Crowd Street's engineering, platform architecture, and technology strategy. He joins with deep industry experience, including more than ten years at iCapital, where he was among the company's earliest employees and helped build one of the industry's leading alternative investment technology platforms, supporting more than $200 billion in platform assets globally as of his departure in 2024. He also worked at KKR, a leading global investment firm, where he served as Managing Director for Operations Systems. His experience developing enterprise SaaS infrastructure and scaling high-performing engineering organizations will support Crowd Street's continued platform evolution.

"The next chapter of private markets will be defined by technology that removes complexity for both managers and investors," said Chris Piazza, Chief Technology Officer at Crowd Street. "Crowd Street has built a strong foundation and I'm excited to help strengthen the platform so our partners can integrate efficiently while striving to deliver an exceptional experience to every investor."

As Head of Product, Obenhaus will lead Crowd Street's product strategy and roadmap, helping shape the platform experience. She joins from KKR and previously spent more than eight years in product leadership roles at iCapital, where she helped develop technology supporting alternative investment operations and workflows. That both executives spent formative years at iCapital — a platform built around distributing alternative investments through intermediaries — aligns with Crowd Street's emphasis on fund manager and distribution partnerships.

"The best investment technology should simplify complexity," said Lindsay Obenhaus, Head of Product at Crowd Street. "I'm looking forward to building products that make it easier for our partners to bring investment opportunities to market while creating a more intuitive and transparent experience for investors."

The appointments come as Crowd Street continues to invest in the technology infrastructure that supports its platform. According to the company, these new additions, coupled with ongoing product enhancements, will make it even easier for fund managers to connect accredited investors with private market investment opportunities. Piazza and Obenhaus' deep background in financial services and technology will be a critical piece in enabling Crowd Street's partners to efficiently connect their existing customers to private market offerings in an experience that is familiar to each individual firm. By simplifying onboarding, integration, and the investor experience, Crowd Street is expanding the ways that financial institutions can incorporate private market investing into client experiences that haven't historically been accessible. Onboarding, eligibility verification, and platform integration have traditionally been among the operational obstacles that kept many financial intermediaries from offering private markets at scale, which is where the new leadership's enterprise SaaS background is aimed.

The company also noted that private market investments are speculative, involve significant risk — including possible loss of principal — may be illiquid, and are available only to investors who meet applicable eligibility requirements. Crowd Street does not provide investment advice or make recommendations about any investment.