StashAway gears up for expansion after raising $16m

Singapore-based robo-advisor StashAway said it has raised US$16 million in a series C round led by Australian VC major Square Peg.

Hubert Burda Media’s growth capital arm Burda Principal Investments and existing investor Eight Roads Ventures also participated in the round, according to a statement.

The StashAway Team / Photo credit: StashAway

Founded in 2016, StashAway is a digital wealth management platform that offers investment and cash management portfolios for both retail and accredited investors. Its technology provides automated and personalized portfolio management, targeting different levels of risk.

As of the end of June this year, StashAway claims its portfolios have generated annualized returns ranging from 11.6% for its highest-risk portfolio and 4.9% for its lowest-risk portfolio since it launched in July 2017.

The startup also has its own financial education program called StashAway Academy. It has licenses from the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Securities Commission Malaysia, the two countries it currently operates in.

What are its future plans? According to StashAway co-founder and CEO Michele Ferrario, the startup plans to use the new funds to speed up product development and enhance the capabilities of its platform.

While declining to disclose any specific features the startup would work on, Ferrario told Tech in Asia that StashAway looks to carry on the momentum it has gained over the past year to integrate new investment products and features to its app.

In addition, the CEO said that the startup has a few country launches in the pipeline as of now, but did not share any specific locations.

Helping with these plans is Square Peg partner Tushar Roy, who joins StashAway’s board as part of the funding deal. “The team is now 85 people-strong across five countries, and they’ve been clearly attracting top-tier talent to drive the company and product forward,” he said.

How much traction has it gotten? Since StashAway’s series B raise in 2019, it has launched a Singapore dollar income portfolio in the city-state, as well as its cash management portfolio StashAway Simple in Malaysia and Singapore.

To carry this momentum forward, the company said it’s still actively hiring, despite the market uncertainties. “We currently have 32 open positions in Singapore, Malaysia, UAE, Hong Kong, and Thailand,” Ferrario said.

The startup also strengthened its educational efforts over the past year, launching its StashAway Academy program in the mobile app and launching the podcast In Your Best Interest.

The company claims that more than 20,000 people have watched its seminars and webinars on personal and investing topics. It has also seen its assets under management grow 4.3x in the past 12 months.