Startup of the Week: Plum

• Plum was founded by Alex Michael and Victor Trokoudes in 2016.
• Their app helps to make saving and investing your money hassle-free.
• So far, Plum have raised a total $23.5 million over 7 funding rounds.

The Gamestop episode has led many to reflect on how they handle their own money, and whether they should pay more attention to savings and investments.

However, for first-timers, the world of investing can seem a confusing, alien concept – and with the media’s portrayals of Wall Street types, even a little intimidating.

This is where our Startup of the Week Plum can help, on a mission to break stereotypes and make the practice of investing more inclusive and accessible to everyday people.

So, What Is Plum?

Founded in 2016, Plum is an investment and savings app, helping to make managing your finances less of a hassle. The company claim their app works “like an autopilot for your money. You sit at the controls, with smart spending analytics and budgeting tools to help you set your financial destination…Plum’s making your savings and investments work for you…”

Through its platform, Plum will analyse its users’ spending, helping them to save money automatically and effortlessly.

The tool was founded by cypriots Alex Michael and Victor Trokoudes when working in the UK. The two decided they would challenge one another to save their money, which led to Alex’s creation of an algorithm that kept an eye on his spending, putting aside affordable amounts into savings every month. Through this algorithm, Alex was able to automate the way he saved, all whilst not having to change his spending habits. From this, the co-founders built Plum.

The Plum platform offers a range of different features to explore, helping users to both save and invest their money. Through its investing features, users can invest in a General Investment account from £1 – simply set up the amount you’d like to invest, choose your funds and deposit/withdraw as often as you please.

Plum offers a list of different funds to choose from, including Tech Giants, European Essentials, Medics and more, stating on their website that “Investing in a single company is risky business…Our funds are a mix of thousands of companies and other assets, so if one doesn’t do well, it should only affect you in a small way.”

Plum have also created a guide on How to Start Investing for Beginners, “on a mission to actively promote the potential benefits that investing can offer”

Plum claim – “we want everyone in society to have knowledge and opportunity to grow their money for the future.”

The Fintech have raised a total $23.5 million over the course of 7 funding rounds, their most recent being a Venture Round announced in July 2020, which raised $10 million.