YC-backed Tash builds index-style investment vehicles for trading cards

Why it matters

Tash is testing whether diversified, regulated card portfolios can attract investors who want collectible exposure without choosing, storing, or reselling individual cards.

Nathan Borshell, John Ohannesian, Victor Shammas, and Nicolas Sharma launched Tash on August 6th as an investment platform that plans to sell shares in managed portfolios of high-end trading cards.

https://x.com/tashcards/status/2085466527638446353

The launch announcement describes a financial market for collectibles, but the first step is a waitlist. Tash says its planned securities offerings are still pursuing Securities and Exchange Commission qualification under Regulation A. No index shares are available for purchase through the public site yet. (x.com)

Tash plans to acquire groups of graded cards, place them in investment vehicles, issue shares to investors, and support secondary trading without requiring investors to receive or ship the underlying collectibles. Tash says prospective offerings will run through registered broker-dealer partners, including Rialto Markets and North Capital Private Securities. (tash.cards)

That regulatory step determines when Tash can move from a product launch to an operating investment market. Regulation A lets eligible issuers offer securities to the public after filing required disclosures and receiving SEC qualification. The exemption includes a Tier 1 route for offerings of up to $20 million in 12 months and a Tier 2 route for up to $75 million, with additional reporting and investor-protection requirements under Tier 2. Tash has not identified a tier on its public pages. (sec.gov)

Four Berkeley founders turn cards into portfolios

The founders' backgrounds explain the structure of the product. According to Y Combinator's Tash profile, Borshell previously worked at UBS Global Markets and agricultural labor software startup Seso after studying economics and data science at the University of California, Berkeley. Ohannesian previously worked in investment banking and also attended Berkeley. (ycombinator.com)

Shammas studied business and data science at Berkeley, while Sharma worked at J.P. Morgan and Capgemini and studied economics, business, and data science there. Tash was founded in 2026 and operates from San Francisco with all four founders listed as active. (ycombinator.com)

Their product applies portfolio construction and securities-market mechanics to a category usually organized around individual purchases. Tash says it will screen cards for liquidity, historical significance, market depth, and demand before placing selected assets in professional custody.

Tash currently lists four planned products. The flagship Tash25 Index would hold 25 cards graded PSA 7 or higher. A 30-card GOAT Index would focus on athletes including Michael Jordan, Lionel Messi, Tom Brady, and Shohei Ohtani. A Rising Stars Index would hold 25 scarce cards, while a 20-card Pokemon Index is listed as being under construction. All four remain on the waitlist. (tash.cards)

The structure separates Tash from card marketplaces such as Alt, where collectors buy and sell whole cards held in a vault. It also differs from Rally, which sells equity shares tied to individual collectibles across categories including sports cards, cars, fossils, and memorabilia. Tash is betting that baskets can reduce the selection risk of buying one expensive card and make collectible exposure resemble an index product. (alt.xyz)

The performance figures are modeled histories

Tash assigns three-year performance figures of 93% to the Tash25, 85% to the GOAT Index, and 167% to the Rising Stars Index. Those figures describe portfolios that investors cannot yet buy, so they are modeled historical results rather than returns earned through a live Tash product. (tash.cards)

Tash also uses Card Ladder's CL50 index to argue that high-end cards have outperformed the S&P 500 over two decades. The methodology note on Tash's homepage says the displayed CL50 curve is anchored to selected documented values, uses interpolated intermediate points, and is awaiting generation from Card Ladder's daily series. That disclosure limits what readers can infer from the chart's smooth long-term comparison. (tash.cards)

The investable products will also carry risks that a broad equity index does not: collectible prices can depend on grading, scarcity estimates, athlete or character demand, authenticity, custody, and thin transaction volumes. Tash's screening process may help select cards with deeper markets, but it cannot create buyers when a particular segment falls out of favor.

Tash's August 6th debut establishes the pitch and the planned indexes. The next stage depends on regulated offering documents, qualified investment vehicles, acquired card portfolios, and a functioning secondary market. Until those pieces are in place, Tash is selling investors on the financial structure around the cards rather than selling the securities themselves.