Pennyworth, an AI-powered private bank for the “aspiring” affluent, has secured 103% (£619,023) of its £600,000 target from 241 investors (with 15 days left in the firm’s crowdfunding campaign) via Seedrs.
Located in the United Kingdom, Pennyworth operates in the Finance & Payments sectors (Digital B2C). Incorporated in December 2019, the firm offers 8.09% Equity; reports a £7M pre-money valuation, a £6.95 share price; Tax Relief: N/A.
Here are the business highlights:
- Founded by the team behind Barclays’ US digital consumer bank
- Addressing the value and advice gap for 10m UK aspiring affluent
- Solved with AI-guided financial planning and banking in one app
- Applied for bank authorization and now building on MVP technology
Key features are as follows: Secondary Market; Seedrs nominee min. £13.90 +; Direct investment min. £25,000.00 +.
Despite 20% of consumers being aspiring affluent and generating close to 80% of retail bank revenue, their financial planning “needs are not being met,” according to Pennyworth’s management.
They also revealed:
“These 10m adults in the UK, with income or liquid assets of £40k – £150k, are not rich enough for private banking and must make do with impersonal service and poor value from their traditional bank. The segment represents approximately £700b in savings and £100b in consumer credit.”
They added that Pennyworth aims “to fill the value and advice gap by bringing financial planning and banking together in one app, using machine learning and open banking to drive better recommendations.”
They aim to help you “reach your goals faster and more confidently with leading rates and tailored financial strategies.”
Based on their competitor research (undertaken in 2022), “it is the only product that offers full personal financial management by helping you effortlessly assemble your finances, adopt a plan and confidently execute it.”
Pennyworth has “completed the UK bank license pre-application process and the application is now being assessed for authorization.”
Founded by a team of proven bank builders, Pennyworth aims “to be a bionic bank for busy people looking to get more from their finances.”
The firm also shared its monetization strategy:
- Winning proposition with a moat. Pennyworth is a free-to-use AI-powered guide underpinned by a top-quartile price-promise on borrowing, saving and investment solutions. The positive unit economics generated by a sustainably competitive spread and low (largely variable) operating costs is a model that traditional banks and many neobanks structurally cannot compete with.
- Strategy to become a unicorn bank without unicorn losses. With bank authorization, Pennyworth has a path to profitability. We aim to reach break-even in our third year and a reach a unicorn valuation by our fifth year without incurring the large financial losses normally associated with neobanks.
- International opportunity. Starting in the UK the model is then easily expandable to other markets where the team have experience, notably the United States.
Have a crowdfunding offering you'd like to share? Submit an offering for consideration using our Submit a Tip form and we may share it on our site!
