Finch, a fintech startup that integrates the benefits of investing and the flexibility of checking into an all-in-one account, has announced today that it has raised $1.8M in seed funding to launch its platform and help transform how people manage their money. The round was led by Boston based Mendoza Ventures with participation from Barclays, Techstars Investors, and Draper Frontier.

Finch democratizes investment access and empowers Millennials to make their money work for them. Finch lets customers earn investment returns by automatically investing their checking balance into a portfolio designed to match their unique risk profile. This means your entire balance is always working for you, from day one, no matter what your balance is. Finch further pushes the envelope by enabling customers instant access to their money when they need it - even the invested part!

At traditional banks and financial institutions, checking and investing accounts are separate. In order to put their money to work, customers are required to manage the flow of money between these accounts, through an ongoing manual process. This friction helps to explain why 86% of Americans do not invest outside of their retirement accounts. In addition, Americans pay an average of $329 per year in bank fees, but they receive very little back in terms of interest. Despite this, an overwhelming number of people continue to leave their balance sitting idle in a traditional checking account - when it could be working for them.

Determined to help address this problem, empower younger generations financially, and help close the wealth gap, financial services maven, Neel Ganu founded Finch.

"I always felt I could have done more with my money - but didn't and ended up holding my balance in cash. Having discovered that in the US, a staggering three in five Millennials currently do not invest at all, I realized I was not alone. Compounding this with the growing financial debt among Millennials today, with 62% living paycheck to paycheck, opened my eyes to how significant the issue is," said Neel Ganu, founder of Finch.

"Many of our customers express that investing is too complex, while others feel they have very little financial flexibility to think about investing and other financial opportunities. But by keeping their money idle in a traditional checking account, they could be missing out on up to 50% of their wealth every ten years," Ganu added.

Finch wants to empower people to make their money work for them, and so they developed a new type of checking account that allows for the benefits of investing to be accessible by all.

"We wanted to help reshape the personal finance industry, leverage the advancements within fintech, and create a new business model and investment ecosystem that was reflective of our values and vision to support those who would most benefit," said Ganu.

Support from FinTech Venture Community
"The Finch team is not only disrupting the checking account to become truly customer-centric; they are transforming the fintech industry as the first player in the market that is enabling instant liquidity on investments. No doubt a game-changer," said Senofer Mendoza, General Partner, Mendoza Ventures. "By enabling customers the ability to earn investment returns, from day one, with what they have today, they are closing the wealth gap and financially empowering a generation. We are so excited to support this team in their mission of financial empowerment."

"As an Alumni of the Barclays Accelerator Programme, we are pleased to be supporting Finch with an equity investment through this exciting growth period," said Kester Keating, Head of US Investments, Barclays. "Neel and his team have great experience and credibility in the consumer fintech space, and we will be watching closely as Finch expand their services to the US retail market in the coming months."

"Finch's all-in-one brokerage and checking account represents the future of autonomous finance," said Jon Zanoff, former Managing Director at Techstars. "By making the legacy checking account a relic of the past, Finch is reimagining the complexities of investing and diversification. I've watched this team bring Finch from a whiteboard at MIT all the way to their customers' hands by solving complex technical challenges along the way."

The company is currently in beta and will publicly launch its platform this October 2020. The app is currently available for preorder. Visit www.finchmoney.com for more information.

About Finch
Finch, formally known as Trio, is an all-in-one checking and investing account that lets customers earn investment returns by automatically investing their checking balance into a portfolio designed to match their unique risk profile. Finch further pushes the envelope by enabling customers instant access to their money when they need it. Based in New York City, Finch was founded by Neel Ganu, a financial services maven who was N26's first US employee. Finch was announced a Top Pick at TechCrunch Disrupt 2019 and was part of the 2019 Barclays Accelerator, powered by Techstars, New York. Finch is a registered investment advisor. For more information, visit www.Finchmoney.com

About Mendoza Ventures
Mendoza Ventures is a Boston based VC specializing in Fintech, AI, and Cybersecurity. They are the first Latinx founded VC on the East Coast, 67% of the current fund has gone to diverse founders. They are committed to growing founders and their teams to create a culture of excellence for startups and investors alike.

About Barclays
Barclays is a British universal bank. We are diversified by business, by different types of customer and client, and geography. Our businesses include consumer banking and payments operations around the world, as well as a top-tier, full service, global corporate and investment bank, all of which are supported by our service company which provides technology, operations and functional services across the Group. For further information about Barclays, please visit home.barclays

About Techstars Investors
Techstars is the global platform for investment and innovation. Founded in 2006, Techstars began with three simple ideas-entrepreneurs create the future, collaboration drives innovation, and great ideas can come from anywhere. Today our mission is to make innovation accessible to everyone, everywhere. We do this by connecting startups, investors, corporations, and cities to create a more sustainable and inclusive world. Since 2006, Techstars has invested in more than 2,200 companies and today has a market cap of $27 Billion. www.techstars.com

About Draper Frontier
With Partners in California, New York, Colorado and Oregon, Frontier is investing out of its fourth venture capital fund into early stage technology companies in the United States. www.frontiervc.com

SOURCE Trio Financial Technologies, Inc.