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There was a time when retail investing was quite cumbersome. Minimum investment amounts locked out the poorer among us, while convoluted processes involving giant banking institutions and too many middlemen created several points of friction between having some money and properly investing it. And let’s not forget about the robbery-like fees charged on every transaction.
Thankfully, financial technology startups have spent the last few years reimagining retail investing for the better. Canadian companies such as Addy, Blossom, and Neo now cater to everyday investors in ways that Big Banks have long refused.
One of the latest additions to Canada’s vibrant fintech scene is Flahmingo Investments.
Founded in 2020 by Taran Singh Kainth, Gio Moros, and Kunal Seth, Flahmingo aims to deliver commission-free, fractional trading with a minimum investment amount of just one dollar. To help do so, the company secured a $2 million pre-seed round last year.
The Calgary-born Flahmingo helps distinguish itself through a fairly passive “pies and slices” concept of managing an investment portfolio.
“When you build a portfolio with Flahmingo, you’re building a Pie,” the company explains on its website. You can create up to 10 Pies, each classified however you want. A Slice is defined as a company share or an exchange-traded fund, and each Pie and have 100 Slices.
Once a client decides on the stocks, they choose the percentage they want to allocate to each Slice. From there, Flahmingo will automatically invest the funds. Other features, such as automated regular deposits, will also be available. As will fractional share investing, an increasingly popular feature that allows investors to own less than one full share of expensive stocks.
While Flahmingo’s intriguing investment platform remains pre-launch, it does have a waitlist and referral program set up. And the company is already hiring.