Plum, an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot for personal finance, announced on Thursday it has achieved 433% user growth in one year, growing from 75,000 to 400,000 users, and has attracted a $4.5 million investment that brings total investment in the firm to $6.3 million. The latest investment comes less than one year after the company raised more than £850,000 funding target through its second equity crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs,
As previously reported, Plum was launched in January 2017 by the former head of international at TransferWise, Victor Trokoudes and is claimed to be the first AI-powered Facebook chatbot that helps consumers manage their personal finances. Plum has reportedly undertaken the task of helping customers save money in a way that they barely notice by connecting securely to users bank accounts through Facebook messenger. The company also stated it links to customers’ banking accountings, analyzes their activity, and helps them manage their money across three pillars:
- Save: Plum uses your history of transactions to save money for you automatically without any additional input from you.
- Invest (launching now): Customers choose from theme-based funds to express their view on world trends like Tech, Ethical companies, and Emerging Markets, risk-based funds for long-term diversified investing or P2P lending for more stable return. We believe that this is the first product of this kind in UK.
- Don’t get ripped off: Bills are analyzed and better and cheaper alternatives are provided. (Utilities, Loans, Credit Cards, Mortgages)
Plum CEO and Co-Founder, Victor Trokoudes, stated:
We’re making an irreversible change in finance, putting consumers firmly back in charge of their own money. While the traditional banking system remains geared towards keeping people in debt, Plum empowers users to easily stay on top of their finances – helping them spend less, save more, switch out of overpriced deals, and invest better than they have before.”
Plum added it will use the funding to increase its headcount in both its London and Athens offices, to focus on its multi-platform strategy and to expand into new markets.
