Portify, a London-based FinTech startup, has raised £1.3m in Seed funding.
The startup, which seeks to equip gig economy workers with the right tools for financial wellbeing, received funding from Kindred Capital (lead investor) and Entrepreneur First.
Co-founded by Entrepreneur First alumni Sho Sugihara (CEO) and Chris Butcher (CTO), Portify offers various financial products. The startup’s app connects with users’ bank accounts to enable them to manage their financial activity across all their platforms.
Portify’s CEO Sugihara, said: “Around six million people do some form of independent work in the UK, and this number is only set to grow. We started Portify because we saw so many workers could not access the basic financial products they deserve. Our current system does not trust the flexible workforce with products like loans and credit but Portify is here to change that.
“At Portify, our mission is to set flexible workers on the path to financial wellbeing. We are already working closely with a number of platforms and workers to ensure our app meets their needs, and we’re using the investment to build more financial products. We want to work with every company that hires gig workers, contractors or freelancers to ensure all independent workers can improve their financial health and access a robust range of benefits beyond discounts and perks.”
Kindred Capital announced a £80m fundraise to back early-stage startups in February. Since then, it’s invested in London-based Farmstand.
Kindred Capital’s founding partner Leila Rastegar Zegna explained why she’d invested in Portify: “With 268 million people across Europe and the US choosing independent work as their preferred work style, we’re seeing a huge economic shift in how people work.
“As an early-stage investor, we have invested heavily into our thesis around the future of work, and we believe there is significant scope for innovators to build financial solutions which enable independent workers to manage their careers, income and benefits. Portify is leading in this space, teaming up with platforms to offer flexible workers practical financial products to budget and save between assignments.”