Free financial advice service Multiply secures £1.75m investment
Mike and Vivek, the founders
UK-based fully-automated independent financial advice company Multiply has secured funding totaling £1.75 million, led by Octopus Ventures.
The firm will officially launch its offering later this year and aims to offer unbiased, free and fully comprehensive financial advice through its website.
Multiply uses machine learning (ML) and financial modelling to create bespoke financial plans for consumers covering every aspect of personal finance, from mortgages to investments and savings.
Octopus Ventures, which specialises in early-stage companies, invested £1 million, and was joined by Portag3 Ventures LP and Entrepreneur First.
Angel investors include Nick Hungerford, former CEO of Nutmeg, Taavet Hinrikus, CEO and co-founder of TransferWise, as well as Peter Rading, Michael Orland and Toby Moore.
Multiply was co-founded in 2016 by Vivek Madlani, the former global head of the dynamic strategies and Index Trading business at RBS, and Mike Curtis, a technology expert with a PhD in Computational Astrophysics from the University of Cambridge.
CEO Madlani comments: “Traditional financial advisors are too expensive for most people. This leaves millions of people in the UK unequipped to make better financial decisions leading to an advice gap that discriminates against the consumers who need it more.”
Zihao Xu, early stage investor, Octopus Ventures, remarks: “There is currently a significant proportion of the population who are excluded from accessing crucial advice that will inform their financial decisions and Multiply will help close this advice gap”.
Speaking to Rowan Pereira, head of growth at Multiply, Fintech Futures found out that the company is still at a relatively early stage. Although the company is hoping to launch during Q4 this year, it is still unclear whether that will be a beta or full launch.
When asked about the business model, there is one thing she was very clear about: “We want to maintain our independence. This means that we are not showing any type of sponsored products in our recommendations, and neither are we manufacturing them ourselves”.
In terms of ensuring a steady flow of money in into the company, the business plan is still to be finalised, but she indicated that income would be generated by the product referral team, although she didn’t go into details about it.
