Vietnamese fintech Finhay bags funding from Acorns' co-founder

Vietnamese fintech Finhay bags funding from Acorns’ co-founder

Written by Ruby Hinchliffe
14th April 2020

Finhay, a Vietnamese micro-invest wealth management platform, has raised an undisclosed seven-digit investment with Jeffrey Cruttenden, co-founder of US savings app Acorns, as a major investor in the round, Tech in Asia reports.

Vietnamese brokerage firm Thien Viet Securities was also among the other investors in the capital raise.

In Vietnam, investment offerings still focus largely on traditional stocks and real estate wealth

Around since 2017, Finhay allows users to micro-invest in Vietnam’s mutual funds – that is, investments which consist of a portfolio of stocks, bonds, or other securities. Investments in these portfolios can start from just VND 50,000 ($2.11).

Having raised $1.1 million last year, it says it will use the fresh, undisclosed capital to boost its market reach, improve IT infrastructures and recruit more staff to develop its platform.

“In the wealth management sector in Vietnam, we are just tapping the surface of its potential,” says Finhay’s founder and CEO Nghiem Xuan Huy.

“With the financial support, experience, and expertise of our new investors, we can capture this potential and accelerate our growth.”

Acorns’ co-founder Cruttenden believes Finhay’s “modern, tech-enabled” solution is “revolutionising access to wealth management resources for millennials”.

“With a growing need for fintech in Vietnam, Finhay’s competitive advantage is its commitment to financial literacy and emphasis on education for younger generations,” Cruttenden adds.

Acorns has done well in the US. As of 2019, it had more than 4.5 million users and over $1.2 billion in assets under management. The US savings app also raised a notably large $105 million in Series E funding last year.

According to Tech in Asia, in Vietnam investment offerings still focus largely on traditional stocks and real estate wealth, rather than more diverse assets which appeal to millennials.

In other Asia-Pacific countries such as Singapore, robo-advisory offerings are more competitive. Just earlier this month, Singapore-based robo-advisor Smartly decided to shut its doors after citing “intense” competition in the digital investment advisory space.