StashAway, a Singapore-based wealth management platform that delivers personalized portfolio management to both retail and accredited investors, has secured $25 million in a Series D round of funding led by Sequoia Capital India. The round was also joined by existing investors, global investor Eight Roads Ventures, and Australian VC firm Square Peg Capital. The company plans to utilize the Series D fund to “fill the gap in digital wealth management space.”
According to the company’s announcement, the transaction is currently pending regulatory approval, set to close in the next couple of months. StashAway raised $16 million in Series C funding in July 2020. With its Series D, the company’s total capitalization goes up to $61.4 million, and the fresh capital will be used to move forward with its investment product and feature developments. As part of the funding round, Sequoia Capital India Managing Director Abheek Anand will be joining the startup’s Board of Directors, pending regulatory approval.
StashAway plans to double down on investment offerings and buy back a maximum of $3 million in stock options from its employees. It also plans to launch in Thailand within the next few months, according to Ferrario.
“StashAway is growing rapidly as it fulfills an obvious gap in the digital wealth management space, especially in areas where its competitors may be lacking: an easy-to-use platform, robust client relationships, and a very sophisticated investing framework. StashAway has built trust with its client base by navigating them through market volatility while providing strong returns,” Anand said of the investment.
Since its founding in 2016, StashAway has been able to deliver automated, personalized portfolio management to each client’s individual portfolios through its digital wealth management platform. The startup currently has operations in Singapore, Malaysia, UAE, Hong Kong, and soon, Thailand. It is accredited in Singapore and Malaysia: Capital Market Services License for Retail Fund Management (Monetary Authority of Singapore) and Market Services License for Digital Investment Management (Securities Commission Malaysia).
The company was founded by Michele Ferrario, Chief Executive Officer (former CEO of Zalora Group); Freddy Lim, Chief Investments Officer (former Managing Director and Global Head of Derivatives Strategy at Nomura); and tech entrepreneur Nino Ulsamer, Chief Technology Officer.
“Currently, we’re the largest player in the region in terms of assets under management. StashAway will be live for four years in July this year, and we have surpassed all our projections of client numbers and assets managed. As the undisputed leader in the market, we will continue to focus on improving our customers’ experience and pushing the industry as a whole to evolve,” Ferrario shared.
Through StashAway’s platform, the company leverages its risk-management investment strategy, Economic Regime-based Asset Allocation (ERAA), to maximize long-term returns and manage its clients’ individual risk exposure. The FinTech also offers products designed for different needs and markets. It caters to retail investors focused on wealth-building, and to people with specific financial goals such as buying a house or retirement.
Ferrario expounds on the startup’s choice to cater to more individuals: “This is something we didn’t think would happen at the beginning, but then we realized that some of the problems we’re solving are also significant problems for high-net-worth individuals as well. If you have less than $10 million to $15 million in wealth, the services you receive from private banks are not particularly sophisticated or personalized. So we offer a more sophisticated investment at a lower cost.”
StashAway was a winner at the ORIGIN Innovation Awards in 2020, under Startup Awards– FinTech. See TechNode Global’s Q&A with Michele Ferrario here.
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