By Ateev Bhandari

July 10 (Reuters) - Alternative investments fintech iCapital was valued at more than

$7.5 billion in its latest external funding round, where it raised more than $820 million, the

company said on Thursday, highlighting investor interest in platforms that expand access to

private-market strategies.

Asset managers are pursuing individual investors and smaller wealth-management clients

for private market investments, which have traditionally been limited to institutional investors

due to the illiquid and high-risk nature of such assets.

BlackRock ( BLK ), who is an investor in as well as a client of iCapital, last month

unveiled plans to include private assets in its retirement plans, which account for more than

half of the money the company manages.

While some analysts argue regulatory friction might complicate such efforts from asset

managers, iCapital CEO Lawrence Calcano does not see such headwinds yet.

"If people remain focused on education and client outcomes, regulation is typically about

protecting investors," Calcano told Reuters in an interview.

The round was led by asset manager T. Rowe Price ( TROW ) and hedge fund SurgoCap Partners.

The funding comes over three years after an Apollo-backed round valued the New

York-based company at over $6 billion. Alternative asset giant Blackstone is also an

investor in iCapital.

Founded in 2013, iCapital has completed 23 strategic acquisitions, including the purchase of

the wealth alternatives unit of Citigroup ( C/PN ) in May, a deal that Calcano says will "help clients

unify their investment platforms so they have one overall platform to drive the business" .

The company assists investment professionals with asset administration, analytics, and

educational tools, simplifying alternative asset management.

"Going public or not going public is not really something that occupies a great deal of

space in my head," Calcano said referring to iCapital's plans for a future listing.

iCapital currently services $945 billion in assets on its platform, with $257 billion of

those in alternative platform assets.