The UK investment and wealth management sector is about to welcome a new competitor: Sidekick, a fintech startup co-founded by former Pariti founder Matthew Ford. Sidekick has successfully secured £3.33 million in pre-seed funding prior to its anticipated launch next year.
Sidekick aims to address the generational wealth gap by providing access to investment products and services that have traditionally been available only to high-net-worth individuals. This includes alternative investments such as cryptocurrencies and the option to borrow against investment portfolios.
The funding round, led by Octopus Ventures with contributions from Seedcamp and Semantic, will be utilized to enhance the app-based platform, expand the in-house asset management team, and obtain necessary regulatory permissions and registrations.
Matthew Ford (CEO) and Peter Townsend (CTO) co-founded the company, bringing prior experience from the mobile banking platform Pariti, which sold to Tandem Bank in 2018. They are supported by a diverse founding team with backgrounds in traditional asset management, consumer credit, and fintech.
Ford comments, “Most retail investors have two options to build wealth: settle for passive portfolios or attempt to time the market and make their own stock and crypto selections without the necessary training, tools, and information. This funding enables us to create a modern app-based investment service that offers customers the same professional expertise that high-net-worth individuals enjoy. With our exceptional team already in place, we are now focused on achieving regulatory approval for our upcoming launch.”
Sidekick has applied for authorization from the FCA and anticipates launching in 2023.