London-based Wombat, a mobile-only investment app, has raised £2M (approx €2.2M) in its Seed round of funding led by Fuel Ventures. With this funding, the company aims to help serve its consumers’ increasing need for share investing. The company has raised about £2.7M (approx €3M) to date.
Speaking about the platform, Kane Harrison, founder of Wombat says, “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.”
Use of the funds
This raised capital will help Wombat further develop its platform to provide easy access to investment as well as open up its ability to offer fractional shares in global, household brands.
With this investment, Fuel Ventures joins Wombat’s board alongside the continued support from Wombat’s angel investors – Chris Adelsbach, an investor in Atom Bank and Monese, James Moore, Trainline’s former UK GM, amongst other prominent angels in the industry.
Wombat is planning to use this capital to further expand the number of shares and funds it offers. And, also develop the platform by adding in new features such as its recently launched “instant deposits”.
How is Wombat different from its competitors?
The company claims that its fractional investment platform is the first-of-its-kind in the UK that is encouraging a new generation of investors by helping them to invest in shares, without the complexity and cost associated with trading on the stock market.
Wombat has more than 62,000 users on its platform, with 31 popular portfolio shares to invest in and 22 theme-based curated funds. Its investors can start investing with just a £10 (approx €11.38) one-off deposit or can contribute monthly.
Its portfolio shares on offer include brands such as Apple, Tesla, Games Workshop, Ocado, and Netflix. As for relatable themes, Wombat’s trending themes include “The Techie”, “Pure Gold”, and “The Green Machine” which is aimed at social and impact savvy investors.
Kane Harrison, founder of Wombat says, “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 the 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.”
About Wombat
The company was founded in 2019 by Kane Harrison. Wombat claims to offer intuitive, simple, and low-cost access to both funds and fractional shares, and in the process, it is changing the financial habits of the next generation through their set-and-forget features – monthly “auto-invest” and “round-ups”. The company is growing users & Asset Under Administration by 20% month-on-month.