Emerging Australian fintech company Upworth has raised $1 million from angel investors and entrepreneurs in the first round of funding for its business model aimed at empowering users to take control of their financial future.
The Sydney-based company has built a cutting-edge platform that gives users the tools to track all their assets and liabilities in one place, plan their financial independence and grow their wealth.
Upworth is co-founded by chief executive officer Alexandre Chavotier, chief technology officer Carlos Rios and chief operating officer/chief marketing officer Maxime Chaury by bringing together experience in the fields of technology, finance and consumer services.
Key to financial independence
"We are proud to bring Upworth to the world, starting with Australia, providing individuals with powerful tools to achieve financial independence," said Chavotier, formerly with McKinsey and artificial intelligence (AI) firm Quantum Black in Sydney.
The key features of the platform include:
- A dashboard where users can track all of their assets and liabilities such as bank accounts, investment accounts, superannuation funds, real estate, cryptocurrencies, mortgages, personal loans and alternative assets in one place. Users can gain free access to 170,000 securities across more than 70 global exchanges, and the ability to see the breakdown and evolution of their wealth;
- A control tower leveraging open banking and AI to share unique insights and help consumers grow their wealth, including a mortgage refinancing module that allows users to see if they can save money on their loans in 60 seconds; and
- A digital platform for consumers to access financial products that fit their needs, starting with home loans in a simple and efficient way.
The company is an authorised credit representative in Australia, working with a panel in excess of 30 lenders, the likes of ANZ, Westpac, NAB and Bankwest.
New tools in the making
The team is also working on new tools that should be available from 2024, notably a self-serve financial roadmap to achieve retirement goals and a scanner to identify ways to reduce financial costs.
Upworth has also doubled down on security and privacy, including setting up data storage in Australia, subjecting data exchanges to AES-256 military-grade encryption protocols and meeting Australia’s strict open banking security and privacy.
To further push the financial literacy agenda, it is building a knowledge base around personal finance (Upworth Hive) and has started the Upworth Talks podcasts featuring personal finance and investment experts.