Written by Alex Bredeen
Fuel Ventures are thrilled to invest £2m in the London based thematic & curated fractional investment platform, Wombat.
So what is Wombat?
Wombat is a next generation auto investment app that appeals to Millenials and GenZ. Wombat, the UK’s first thematic & curated fractional investment platform, has closed a £2million seed round to help the fast-growth business serve consumers’ increasing appetite for investing. Wombat makes investing effortless and accessible to everyone, breaking down the barriers to investing and empowering a generation with the tools and knowledge they need to grow and invest for their future.
Why don’t people in the UK invest in the stock market?
There are three core reasons behind this:
1. They don’t know where to start.
2. The terminology is confusing & complex.
3. They think they need to start with lots of money.
Why is Wombat different?
Wombat enables more than 62,000 users to invest and diversify their portfolio across 31 popular shares and its 22 theme-based curated funds. People can now invest directly into companies through fractional shares as well as thematic funds, both in Europe and the US. Shares on offer will include well known brands such as Apple, Tesla, Games Workshop, Ocado and Netflix. The funds are different to what is currently out there on the market because it really lets the everyday person invest in a range of themes that they may be interested in, the top trending funds include ‘The Techie’, “Pure Gold”, and ‘The Green Machine’ which aims to please the passionate social and impact savvy investor.
The platform allows users to auto invest, setting a monthly amount to invest based on your preferences and it gives users the ability to round up and save any spare change they have into their Wombat account. The other great feature for the non-professional investor is their LearningHub, which totally simplifies the complex world of investment for the everyday person.
Tell me about the Wombat team
Wombat’s mobile-first, fractional micro-investment platform was founded by serial entrepreneur and former trader, Kane Harrison, in 2019. Headquartered in London, it has raised almost £2.7m to date. Kane Harrsion who has a strong background in product development, spent 2 years at NAB as a risk analyst before spending 5 years as the founder of Stacked, a dutch pancake brand. COO Mike has 12 years experience in structured products, and CTO Brannan has several exits from companies he’s been involved in.
Kane said: “A majority of people in the UK and Europe aren’t doing enough to save for their future. With banks providing all-time low interest rates, we have seen appetite for investing grow, many feel overwhelmed with the perceived complexity of handling shares. Our goal is to make investing in the stock market relatable and less scary. With a low starting point of £10, anyone can try it out
“Some of the world’s most successful investors, like Warren Buffett, invest in companies and brands they know, use and understand. We want everyone to have that same mindset. This is why we focus on helping people own a part of those companies they have an affinity with. I for one am a massive fan of Elon Musk, Wombat makes it easy for me to be part of Tesla’s successful journey at a minimal cost.”
Mark Pearson, founder and managing partner of Fuel Ventures, added: “Kane and the Wombat team are breaking open the stock market for everyone and giving young people the access to other saving opportunities. We haven’t seen a platform like this in Europe. Wombat is the first to help introduce regular, micro investing into the market - putting people’s concerns at ease by easy investing in things they understand.”
We strongly believe that Wombat will be a significant player in the UK, Europe and other key markets like India and Australia when it comes to investing.
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