We're excited to announce we have raised a A$7.8m Series Seed round of funding, led by global fintech investor, Portage Ventures. Australian venture capital firm TEN13 also participated in the round, as well as Archangel, who, along with Rayn Ong, had backed us very early on.
It's been a wild ride since launching out of beta in March 2021. Over this time, through bull markets, meme stocks, and now bear markets, these three partners have shown a deep understanding and belief in how we are aiming to reshape financial services.
To most, the idea of making investing more boring seemed (and probably still does seem) crazy; but we've been fortunate to find believers with the conviction to back us on this journey to help everyday people reach financial independence.
Here's a fresh take from Stephanie Choo, Partner at Portage Ventures:
“We are really excited to be backing the Pearler team as they build the next generation of holistic investing products. Our thesis is that there is a big gap in the market between trading single stocks and having an advisor do everything for you.”
~2 years and counting
Since our public launch in 2021, we’ve welcomed over 53,000 everyday people into the Get Rich Slow Club. We started with admittedly a very basic-looking ASX investing app, with some social features like rankings and profiles, plus a simple automation tool to help you do less on our app. We felt (and feel) that the less you do when investing, the better your chances of success.
We spent the first half of our existence banging on about diversification, not timing the market and thinking long term. We competed with multi-million dollar marketing budgets for half a dozen slick new trading apps, plus another half a dozen clunky long-standing offerings. All whilst stocks were only going up….
…then stocks stopped only going up. And luckily, we've been able to keep banging on about the same boring topics. We wanted to build an experience to help people learn, save, invest, connect and become wealthier. And we believe there's never been a more important time to be spreading the long term message.
So what are we building?
A community-led app for learning, saving, investing, and reaching your financial goals.
Pearler’s Mission is to humanise personal finance, helping to guide and simplify the journey towards financial independence. We want to make it achievable for any person to become financially literate, regardless of identity, education, or bank balance. We succeed when our customers are comfortably on a path to financial independence.
With this funding, we will continue reinventing our core investing experience by doubling down on open banking-powered automation. We'll also keep exploring how social features and community can help bridge the gap between the lonely road and expensive advice. Plus, we're getting ready to add a range of new products that cover even more of your wealth journey.
We want to help you from that early birthday card with a few pineapples in it (Aussie $50 notes), right through to financial independence or retirement - whichever comes first.
Where we are right now
Within our community-led experience, designed to give you the guidance, tools and ongoing support needed to build wealth, we have developed and launched several foundational products that include:
CHESS-sponsored brokerage providing access to ASX listed shares and ETFs.
US-listed shares and ETFs that you can preorder, meaning no more midnight missions to invest.
A micro-investing fund linked to a suite of ETFs that allows investors to make small, regular investments plus round-ups from everyday transactions.
Autoinvest, a sophisticated (but super intuitive) rebalancing tool that allows investors to set rules across multiple bank accounts and automate their spending, saving, and investing.
Where are we headed?
We believe automation will play an increasingly important role in managing investments and it is central to our business development plans. For example, Autoinvest will continue its expansion to encompass areas such as bank transactions, superannuation top-ups, and philanthropy.
A few snippets of the work in progress:
A new range of social wealth features, including the Pearler Exchange, an in-app group for discussing money issues, frequented by some of the most innovative financial advisers.
Expansion into the New Zealand market as a stepping stone into other geographies.
A super simple investing app for parents and kids to share the journey towards life’s first big financial milestones.
We're also cooking up something pretty special for getting in touch with your super, and something a little controversial for the crypto space.
On the Pearler Exchange, everyday people can ask questions of real investors and certified advisers. But more than that, it's a place in which our community can support each other on their journeys to financial independence. Visit the Pearler Exchange to find out more.
Want to help create a world free from financial stress?
We are building a team of personal finance nerds, who love tech and the idea of constant improvement. Let us know how you want to get involved at jobs@pearler.com
