The inception of Rares, a fintech startup, came with the purpose of turning sneakerheads from once just collectors to investors. Having a love for kicks himself, former athlete Gerome Sapp took his insight of them being alternative assets and created a platform that gives back to the Black community by providing accessibility to the collectible sneaker space — leading them to build wealth off of being the pioneers of the culture — as previously reported by AfroTech. Now, the social investing platform is creating even more room for sneaker enthusiasts to lock down wins in the market. On April 5, Rares announced the addition of secondary market trading, according to a press release shared with AfroTech. “Secondary trading has always been part of the product roadmap for Rares,” Sapp told AfroTech. “We want to provide use rs an opportunity to trade shares after sneakers IPOs are sold out, increasing the liquidity of the asset. Every day, sneakers continue to appreciate in value year...

For former NFL player Gerome Sapp, transitioning from the world of professional sports to the world of business came with ease once he found the right concept. After retiring from the league in 2008, he was inspired to start a new career as a tech founder, and his latest conquest in the industry is proving to be quite a force in the investment space. With his driven mindset and finance background, the athlete-turned entrepreneur came up with an innovative concept to educate his community on what it means to make smart investments in assets that especially resonate with them — sneakers. This simple yet revolutionary idea is what paved the way for his new fintech startup Rares — a product of the Techstars Los Angeles Accelerator program — to launch as a platform to help people to invest in shares of particularly notable sneakers. The business, which launched earlier this year, was born amid the pandemic and gave Sapp the opportunity to combine his two passions — the Stock Market and...