The Pitch is a Milwaukee Business Journal and Wisconsin Inno series that gives a snapshot of a local startup. The Business Journal doesn’t endorse companies featured in The Pitch, nor is this an invitation to invest. To suggest a startup for possible future features, email tnykiel@bizjournals.com.
The founders of Investii want to turn the U.S. credit system on its head. Nishant Deshpande and Bryan Stave believe that people who are good savers are creditworthy borrowers. They envision a world where people tout their personal savings rate just as they would their credit score.
The company's name comes from the idea that people should invest in themselves by saving money, and the product is designed to facilitate that.
Deshpande, Investii's CEO, came up with the idea after working in banking and investments for BMO Financial Group and Hartland Advisors Inc. and reading a statistic about the relatively low percentage of Americans who have $1,000 saved.
After meeting through mutual friends in 2019 and bonding over a shared propensity for problem solving, Deshpande and Stave teamed up to start Investii in 2020.
"All of the incentives in our society are set up to get people to spend or over-consume," said Stave, the company's chief growth officer. "A platform that could get people feeling good about saving and acting in their best long-term interest just got me so excited."
Deshpande and Stave expect the platform will fully launch in September. They've participated in local entrepreneurial programs including the free gBETA Milwaukee accelerator and Reverse Pitch MKE. It will be presenting at the upcoming Summerfest Tech pitch competition on Sept. 8.
The product: A platform designed to encourage consumers to save money and reward them for doing so. Users will be able to connect their checking, savings, taxable investment accounts and retirement accounts; select their personal risk tolerance; and automatically allocate their surplus to savings and investment accounts. When money is transferred, users will earn rewards points and their savings behavior will be captured in an algorithm to determine their Investii Savings Score.
How it makes money: Subscription fees for Investii’s premium version, referral fees from financial institutions when users open new accounts through Investii, and a 1% commission from brokerage partners when users transfer funds into investment accounts. Long term, Investii plans to monetize its Investii Savings Score through user-authorized sale to lenders, or by offering or securing loans for strong savers.
Size of the market: More than $14 billion, which includes more than 135 million U.S. users, according to Investii.
Competition: The closest competitors are budgeting and account aggregation platforms such as Mint and Personal Capital. There are no direct competitors, according to Investii.
Competitive advantage: Investii addresses all aspects of saving, from finding the right accounts to identifying how much to save to developing and executing personalized savings strategies. The company said that since it allows for actual fund transfers, it's uniquely positioned to encourage positive financial habits and prove its thesis that strong savers are trustworthy borrowers.
Business it could disrupt: The U.S. credit system and financial services industry.
Advisers: Psychologist Hal Hershfield, a University of California-Los Angeles professor of marketing and behavioral decision making known for his research on the “future self.”
Investors: Self-funding, family and friends.
Capital raised: $75,000
Capital sought: $750,000 to $1.5 million in a seed round this fall.
Ideal exit: An initial public offering or acquisition by another financial technology company such as Square Inc. or Stripe Inc. However, Investii said its primary focus as a mission-driven company is solving problems, and it isn’t anticipating an exit in the near future.
Company name: Investii Inc.
Headquarters: Milwaukee
Year founded: 2020
Founders: Nishant Deshpande and Bryan Stave
No. of employees: 6
Website: www.investii.com
