Fortu: The Digital Platform for Rich People and their Companies

When investing, your capital is in danger.

Millennials are projected to inherit $68 trillion by 2030, rising their wealth 5X.

Co-founders of Fortu Wealth Azamat Sultanov and Firdavs Shakhidi recognised a niche out there – excessive internet price people have been in want of a product that may simplify funds and investments, all from one app with a clear and easy UX. So, they assembled a powerful workforce of motivated and skilled professionals to create a unified, modern platform that’s designed for the rich millennial shoppers, in addition to personal banks, wealth managers, exterior asset managers and multi-family workplaces – servicing the wants of this new fast-growing shopper area of interest with a B2B SaaS resolution. 

We sat down with Azamat and Firdavs to search out out extra concerning the workforce, and their imaginative and prescient for the fintech house.

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What does Fortu do?

We began the enterprise with a transparent imaginative and prescient for the personal banking trade – one the place it could actually adapt digital wallets to work alongside conventional financial institution accounts. We wish to provide shoppers seamless entry to various funding platforms and supply them freedom of funds and FX, all from one place.

What have been you doing previous to beginning Fortu?

We constructed our careers in monetary providers, and each have over a decade of expertise in personal banking. I graduated with a Masters in Finance from London Enterprise College and my co-founder, Firdavs, did Economics at UCL. We have now intensive information and expertise in compliance and threat administration, a powerful understanding of the problems current within the banking sector and regulatory developments, in addition to a broad UHNWI shopper base. We beforehand managed a boutique asset administration group with over US $500 million in AUM, working with varied Swiss personal banks comparable to UBS, EFG, Julius Baer and Pictet. These expertise have been extremely translatable and invaluable in beginning a brand new enterprise to enhance the monetary expertise for our shoppers.

How did you meet your core workforce members and the way do you know they have been the best match to assist get the enterprise off the bottom? 

We’ve been shut buddies and enterprise companions for a very long time! Every enterprise enterprise we’ve initiated collectively was created on a basis of friendship and belief, which has allowed us to stay aligned in our imaginative and prescient for the enterprise, and the choices we make because it grows. We completely complement every others skillset.  

What advantages does Fortu present to customers that will let you preserve aggressive benefit?

At Fortu, our objective is to improve personal banking for millennial excessive internet price people (HNWIs). We provide quite a lot of options which serve to enhance the expertise for our customers. The principle worth proposition is to save lots of time and supply the absolute best UX. 

We at present purpose to supply two accounts inside one app – a UK digital account, and a Swiss personal checking account. We can even give shoppers entry to a sturdy multi-asset funding platform with AI-driven curated funding portfolio administration. We supply out proactive threat administration by means of real-time automated KYC and AML and facilitate fast and straightforward funds in addition to reporting options for household workplaces. Furthermore, each Fortu shopper has a devoted private account supervisor who they will attain out to 24/7, by means of our app-based customer support resolution.

What have been essentially the most important development milestones to date?

Within the first three quarters of 2020, we developed and launched the beta model of our Fortu Wealth cell app and a desktop model of the appliance with essentially the most important options. We have now began beta-testing, and are actively gathering suggestions to enhance our product iterations and guarantee we ship the very best expertise doable for customers. 

Within the third quarter of 2020, we generated our first revenues within the quantity of £72Okay ARR. We have now already secured partnerships with the highest service suppliers for fee and compliance providers, together with fee options, FX, KYC and AML screening. We’re additionally at present cooperating with a Swiss banking group as a pilot buyer as a part of the beta testing for our B2B SaaS product. We’ve managed to achieve a variety of curiosity from institutional traders and main VCs which are aiming to take part within the subsequent spherical.

What are you most wanting ahead to within the fast future?

We’ll quickly be deploying our first pilot with the personal banking SaaS shopper, and shortly after will launch our full-suite wealth administration platform. In the long run, our final objective is to grow to be a licensed digital personal financial institution. We’re at present within the technique of submitting an utility for an EMI license. For now, we will function as FCA-regulated EMD agent of Modulr FS Ltd. We’re at present effectively positioned to grow to be a number one software program supplier for exterior asset managers, wealth managers and personal banks.

What would be the best problem going ahead? 

As with every enterprise, there might be a variety of challenges alongside the best way, however I might say the most important might be constructing the very best UX expertise for millennial HNWIs. It will require making use of suggestions from our prospects and assessing the quickly evolving wants of the market to make sure we persistently ship high quality product iterations. Fortuitously, We have now a really sturdy tech workforce devoted to constructing a product that we consider will get a variety of traction and obtain scalability on this market.

What are your fast plans with the proceeds from this spherical?

We’re going to make investments raised funds to achieve extra traction, which might lead us to a large sequence A spherical.

What do you anticipate your exit technique might be?

We anticipate that Fortu will most definitely grow to be an acquisition goal for main SaaS gamers and main personal banks.

What’s the primary factor you discovered in beginning a enterprise?

It’s a must to be prepared for every part and proceed shifting ahead, regardless of what number of occasions you hear “no”.

What do you suppose are crucial expertise in beginning a fintech firm?

Business information, and the grit to only go and do it.

What are you doing while you’re not working?

We drastically get pleasure from spending time with youngsters, taking part in soccer, travelling and studying.

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To seek out out extra about Fortu, go to the pitch now.