Melbourne automated investment advice startup Clover raises seed round led by Equipsuper

1

Startup Clover looks to cut the increasing biasness of financial advice, conflicts and high fees that dominate the investment scene. As its name suggest (In ye-olde English, for someone to be in clover meant “to have an easy and prosperous life, without any worries”), the startup looks to live up to its name in automated investment advice services.

Clover is an automated investment advice platform that uses algorithms to help users create goal-based investment portfolios that are periodically rebalanced toward goal achievement. It looks to encourage Australians to seek guidance on their personal finances earlier in life and not just when nearing retirement.

Clover was founded by Harry Chemay, Warren Burns, Darcy Naunton and Sahil Kaura in 2014.  Harry Chemay acts as the CEO and boosts more than 18 years of experience from both financial planning and investment consulting backgrounds. He has previously worked for over a decade with KPMG and Horwath (now part of Grant Thornton).

Darcy is the COO/CFO of Clover and Partner with early-stage venture fund manager Adventure Capital.  Warren is the founder of Australia’s premium technology innovation agency, BurnsRED, and acts as the CTO. Sahil Kaura handles the investment side of Clover as the Head of Investments.

The FinTech startup has announced it has raised over $1 million in a seed funding round that involved a number of investors including superannuation fund Equipsuper. The investment from Equip, which has $7 billion under management, will spearhead the roll out of Clover’s technology through its own automated advice service in March 2016 that is aimed at its younger members.

The startup is currently setting up a panel of advisors to help guide its growth plans, including Neil Detering, co-founder of trading systems and market data provider IRESS.  Clover is planning to announce the chair of its investment committee over the coming weeks.

 

[Source] Melbourne automated investment advice startup Clover raises seed round led by Equipsuper