Today, investment app Grifin debuted its anticipated “Adaptive Investing” model, which automatically invests in your favorite companies you purchase from.
Grifin was launched in 2017 to make investing easier for non-financial individuals. Grifin has raised over $11 million from TTV Capital, Rise of the Rest, Gaingels, NevCaut Ventures, Mana Ventures, Sidecut Ventures, Miami Angels, Playtap Media Ventures, Witz Ventures co-founder Austin Hankwitz, and GGV Capital managing partner Hans Tung. The startup reports 20,000 monthly unique app installations.
Grifin’s new patent-pending technology expands on its original “Stock Where You Shop” strategy, allowing you to explore the scary world of investing by matching your shopping patterns with stock options.
“Investing, and even having a healthy positive relationship with money, is an incredibly difficult thing to do and achieve,” co-founder Aaron Froug tells Eltrys. “Mobile access and 0% commission applications promise to ‘open up’ investing to anyone, but the existing system isn’t tailored for individuals. It still takes courage, emotional energy, and investment knowledge. Even the smartest individuals I know don’t know what’s in most ETFs, and most people don’t have enough money to start. Everything is foggy and convoluted. The person is not the focus.”
The adaptive investing model adds capabilities to the app to let consumers interrupt automated payments, change their spending, and actively invest more in a firm. It also adds a “Secret Cash” feature for private transactions and future savings.
“This patent-pending technology builds on the original premise by integrating new functionality to allow for a more intuitive and adaptive approach to investing, centered not just around people’s daily spending habits but how much they want to invest,” Froug says.
Grifin invests $1 in every transaction by default. When you purchase a Starbucks coffee, the app withdraws $1 from your bank account and gives you $1 in SBUX shares. Manually raise the investment limit to $99.
Just because you like a brand doesn’t imply it’s a good investment. Grifin implemented a “disable company” function to cease investing in particular firms. You may even halt investing for a week.
“We understand that a person may not invest in a specific location based on their spending habits. By spending as little as $1 at a time, Froug hopes to help consumers learn to invest without suffering too many negative effects if they get it wrong.
Froug further claims that adaptive investing decreases single-stock risk by encouraging a varied profile because customers spend money on phone/internet bills, gasoline, monthly subscription services, and more.
“I’ve been personally using our app for a little over two years and investing in 115 unique companies,” he says.
Grifin is also redesigning its app to include a premium edition and an AI chatbot to teach investing.
