Franc raises US$ 300k in seed round

Fintech start-up based in South Africa, Franc announced that it has raised US$300k in the capital as part of a wider seed funding round.

About Franc

Founded in May 2018, Franc aims to make investing a part of everyone’s lives. It started with the idea of making investing affordable, accessible, and social. It allows for users to invest in leading cash and equity firms in just a couple of minutes. Franc has made investing simple and easier as it requires no paperwork. Users have to pay 1% all-inclusive fee to invest through the app.

The app launched publicly in October 2019. Since then, Franc has reported 14,000 downloads with the user base doubling in the last month. Franc has also grown to a team of 20 members.

The Founders

Also, the founders, Sebastian Patel and Thomas Brennan built the start-up from the ground up with personal savings for most of 2018 and 2019. Brennan is an engineer with a doctorate in machine learning. And Patel is an actuary with around 15 years of experience in financial services.

In a statement, they explained what Franc does and what they wish to achieve.

“Franc.app helps people who have never invested before access the leading cash (Allan Gray Money Market Fund) and equity (Satrix 40 ETF) funds in the market.” They want to “democratize access to investing by making it easy and accessible” and “educate people about finance and investment so that they are able to create wealth and realize their dreams.”

Seed Round

Also, Franc has announced that they have raised US$ 300k in their ongoing seed round. COVID-19 has had an impact on their round; however, they have managed to overcome the hurdles and raise capital. Franc has witnessed a 25% monthly increase in new investors.

“We bootstrapped the business foremost of 2018/9, and in the past 7 months, we’ve been able to raise around USD $300,000 in seed funding. We are still in the process of trying to raise further funding and confirming new investors as we go. Most investors were committed pre-COVID, but we have also got two new investors on board in the last two months, ” said the founders.

According to Franc, the funding of this round will be used for operational aspects of the start-up including salaries. And customer acquisition costs. “We have a very committed team who are keen to get as many people as possible to start investing – many of our team members are working purely for sweat equity.”

Future plans

Currently, Franc operates in South Africa. It is looking to expand outward into other African countries.

In addition, their mission is to build Franc into a “trusted and household brand, recognized for relevance, honesty, transparency, and integrity.” Franc has plans to grow its users base over the next two years. Also, Their hope is that the app will help South Africans “break the cycle of debt and dependency and help them realize their financial dreams.”