Reality Shares

What Reality Shares does

Reality Shares, Inc. is a San Diego-based private investment and index company founded in 2012 that designs and maintains proprietary, research-driven indexes and analytical tools for the financial markets. The company's core technology centers on two proprietary methodologies: DIVCON, a dividend health rating system that assesses the likelihood that public companies will grow or cut their dividends, and the Guard Indicator, a proprietary market-strength signal intended to forecast market downturns and enhance risk-adjusted returns. These methodologies underpin a broader portfolio of specialized indexes including the DIVCON family (DIVCON Leaders, Dividend Defender, Dividend Guard), the SPQQ Siren Large Cap Blend Index, the Reality Shares Nasdaq Blockchain Economy Index, Blockchain China Index, Drone Index, Blockforce Labs Global Currency Index, REBEL Index, and Reality Mine — covering dividend strategies, large-cap blends, blockchain exposure, drones and precision sensing, and cryptocurrency markets. The company also provides interactive investor tools (Dividend Dashboard, Quilt Charts, Dividend Payers tracker) on its advisor-facing website.

Reality Shares monetizes primarily through two revenue streams: ETF management fees on products distributed via the Siren ETF Trust (the company's ETFs were transferred to Siren ETF Trust effective November 23, 2020), and licensing of its proprietary indexes to third-party asset managers and institutional investors. The go-to-market motion is sales-led, targeting financial advisors and institutional investors who seek differentiated, research-driven index exposure for client portfolios — particularly in dividend strategies and thematic emerging-teconomy themes. The company does not publicly disclose pricing; ETF expense ratios are determined via fund prospectus. The firm employs 11–50 people, has raised a disclosed $3M in a single 2015 funding round, and maintains no disclosed parent company, venture investors, or acquisition history.

Name

Reality Shares

Legal name

Reality Shares, Inc.

Website

https://realityshares.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. ETF Management Fees: Reality Shares creates indexes that are packaged into ETFs under the Siren ETF Trust. Revenue is generated through management fees on ETF assets under management.
2. Index Licensing: The company licenses its proprietary indexes (DIVCON, Guard, Blockchain Indices, Drone Index, etc.) to third-party asset managers and institutional investors.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Reality Shares creates innovative, research-driven proprietary indexes packaged into ETFs (distributed via Siren ETF Trust since November 2020). Its flagship methodologies are DIVCON, a dividend health rating system that scores the likelihood of dividend growth or cuts, and Guard, a market-strength indicator designed to forecast downturns and enhance risk-adjusted returns. The firm also publishes thematic indexes covering blockchain, cryptocurrency, drones, and large-cap blend exposures, supported by interactive investor tools such as a Dividend Dashboard, Quilt Charts, and Guard visualization.

Product overview

Reality Shares is an investment and index company that creates innovative, research-driven indexes and dividend analysis tools. The core offerings include the DIVCON dividend health rating system and Guard market indicator, which are supported by a portfolio of specialized indexes including Drone Index, Blockchain Economy Index, Blockchain China Index, and cryptocurrency indexes (Blockforce Labs Global Currency Index, REBEL Index). The company also offers DIVCON-themed indexes (DIVCON Leaders, Dividend Defender, Dividend Guard), the SPQQ Siren Large Cap Blend Index, and interactive tools including a Dividend Dashboard, Guard Indicator, Dividend Payers tracker, and Quilt Charts. Since November 23rd, 2020, Reality Shares ETFs operate under Siren ETF Trust.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• DIVCON: A unique dividend health rating system that assesses the likelihood that companies will grow or cut their dividends.
• GUARD
• Reality Shares Drone Index
• Reality Shares Nasdaq Blockchain Economy Index
• Reality Shares Nasdaq Blockchain China Index
• Blockforce Labs Global Currency Index
• REBEL Index

Products and services

• DIVCON Dividend Health Rating System

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Bitwise Asset Management: Bitwise is a specialized crypto index and ETF manager offering cryptocurrency index products, directly comparable to Reality Shares' Blockforce Labs Global Currency Index and REBEL crypto index offerings.
• Amplify ETFs: Amplify ETFs focuses on thematic and disruptive-technology ETFs (e.g., blockchain, AI, online retail) — closely aligned with Reality Shares' niche thematic index business and advisor-led distribution.
• Direxion: Direxion is a thematic and niche ETF sponsor with active sector and disruptive-tech products — directly comparable in targeting tactical advisor allocations in emerging themes similar to Reality Shares' drone and blockchain indexes.
• Cambria ETFs: Cambria is an independent ETF sponsor that builds proprietary quantitative and factor-based indexes (e.g., dividend, value, tail risk) — directly comparable to Reality Shares' DIVCON dividend-health methodology and Guard market-strength indicator.
• Global X ETFs: Global X is a thematic ETF issuer with strong overlap in disruptive-tech baskets (blockchain, drones, fintech, cloud) — directly comparable to Reality Shares' thematic Drone and Blockchain index families and similar advisor-distribution model.

Emerging players

• Roundhill Investments: Roundhill is an emerging thematic ETF sponsor offering niche innovation baskets — comparable as a younger, thematically driven peer with a similar advisor-targeting distribution approach.

Broad incumbents

• MSCI: MSCI is a leading global index provider that licenses indexes to ETF issuers and institutional investors — comparable as a benchmark scale player in the index-licensing business that Reality Shares participates in with its proprietary indexes.
• First Trust: First Trust is a large established issuer that builds proprietary research-driven indexes and packages them into ETFs (e.g., AlphaDEX, Dow Jones thematic) — comparable to Reality Shares' approach of creating proprietary research-based indexes and wrapping them in ETFs.
• ProShares: ProShares is a major ETF sponsor offering thematic, dividend, and crypto/blockchain strategies, making it a broad incumbent peer to Reality Shares across multiple index families.

Regional players

• Innova ETFs (Capital Block or similar): Innova is a smaller independent ETF sponsor focused on thematic and income strategies, comparable in scale and approach to Reality Shares' niche thematic and dividend ETF lineup, primarily serving the U.S. advisor channel.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/realityshares
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/reality-shares-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Reality Shares