Rebalance Startup: Stack Finance Raises Seed Funding From SOSV (US), Rebalance Angels & AngelList
Smriti was only 21 when she noticed that managing personal finance is unnecessarily complicated and boring.
Indian millennials contribute up to 70% of household income but struggle with managing money, saving, investing, and planning for their future.
As a young teenager, Smriti started placing small trades/equity investments through her father’s Demat account. Over time, she discovered her passion for finance and invested time in building her financial acumen and health. By the time, she was 23, she noticed that she had multiple apps for banking, trading, investing, etc. So, essentially to manage every aspect of personal finance, she required a different app to track and grow that function.
80% millennials in India see wealth as their top life goal but are stuck with 5–7 mobile apps and an excel sheet while managing personal finance. Eventually, none of this struggle really helps them become financially literate or grow their net worth.
She realized there is no unified platform that helps millennials manage, grow, and control their money effortlessly.
In 2019, she launched Stack Finance - a social banking platform on a mission to financially empower millennials by making personal finance accessible, affordable, and less boring.
They offer an AI-powered, personalized manager that automates investments, expenses, and borrowing in a single, secure app.
Stack Finance is a part of Rebalance Accelerator Cohort 2 and we’re thrilled to announce they have raised seed funding led by SOSV (US) along with AngelList India, Rebalance Angels and others.
Some investors who participated in this round — Rohit Chanana [ Ex-President Finance at Hero Corp]; Divya Rao [Marcomm GM, Sony India]; Anand Sinha [Co-Founder Leap.club]; Dhiraj Soni; Abhishek Murali [Co-founder, NIMPAA Global Pvt Ltd], Ajith Karimpana [Founder and CEO, Furlenco]; Ujwal [Director, Vedanshu Investments] and IIIT Hyderabad Seed Fund.
Although the startup is in beta, it claims that it is witnessing a strong demand for its product from millennials and has seen high engagement and retention amongst its followers. The product plans to go live shortly in Q3’20.
Stack Finance enables a healthier financial lifestyle by helping users save, meet bills, end the overspending cycle, and develop financial IQ.
“Beyond financial security, Stack is enabling millions of young Indians to explore elevated lifestyles while planning for their future. We’re proud to back Smriti and the team as they innovate personal finance in India,” said William Bao Bean, General Partner at SOSV, Managing Director of MOX, the Mobile Only Accelerator.
Smriti Tomar, CEO, Stack Finance mentioned, “People work really hard for their money so they can fulfill their goals, but being able to manage that money should not be a luxury. It is a basic essential. India currently has the biggest missing link here with no platform that offers a personalized and intelligent approach to personal finance. We at Stack aim to empower these 440 million millennials by helping them achieve financial security and freedom”
Stack Finance’s core founding team comprises of Smriti Tomar (founder, CEO), Vidit Varshney (COO), and Yashwardhan Pauranik (CPO).
The company said it will use the funds to further deepen its tech infrastructure, and grow its team.
Aishwarya & Vikas, Co-founders at Rebalance share “Smriti joined Rebalance in early March. Fundraising is a tough and continuous process, we’ve seen Smriti and her team’s undivided dedication throughout. We’re looking forward to helping them through their launch & support them through early user acquisition.”
Commenting on the investment, Rohit Chanana said: “Smriti is a wonderful human being and a very passionate entrepreneur. She has the belief, conviction, and support of a great team to achieve her dreams of creating financial products for millennials.”
The financial service industry in India is fragmented and generic. Money management feels complicated, inaccessible, and extremely boring to the millennials. Stack Finance is here to change that!
Sign-up here for the waitlist at StackFinance — https://stackfinance.co/
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