ikigai closes successful CrowdCube campaign, raising £1.9 million for its premium digital banking and wealth management app

The campaign overfunded by 158% and investment will be used to enhance user experience through elegant design and best-in-class digital banking technologies 

London, Tuesday 1st June 2021

• ikigai is the first premium fintech in the UK to combine digital banking with wealth management  in one app, providing clients with a holistic view of their money, ikigai launched its equity crowdfunding campaign on 26^th April 2021 and has attracted 1731 new investors, bolstering its pre-seed funding of £2.2 million to £4.1 million
• Funds raised will be invested in team growth, accelerating the product pipeline and offering more customers its unique premium service
• ikigai focuses on financial self-care with confident spending, goals-based saving and investing which aims to ensure it is the only fintech to offer a premium service for its products: Everyday, Nest and Wealth, which includes its new stocks and shares ISA

ikigai, the new premium fintech bringing self-care to personal finance, closes its successful Crowdcube campaign raising £1,905,993 overfunding by 158%.

Funds raised will see ikigai continue to invest in its team and accelerate its product roadmap, which aims to integrate exceptional banking design, best-in-class financial technologies, and high-touch relationship management. ikigai will also continue to iterate their product, introducing new features that will redefine the way young and affluent users bank, empowering them to spend, save, and invest in line with their personal and financial goals.  

The total amount raised equates to 14.82% equity at a pre-money valuation of £10.95 million, and the company previously raised £2.2 million from private and angel investors in a pre-seed round completed in 2020. 

Maurizio Kaiser, co-founder of ikigai, says: 

“The success of the Crowdcube campaign has demonstrated an appetite to align premium financial services with the digital world, especially when it comes to combining everyday banking with Wealth management. The one-size-fits-all does not resonate for the growing number of young people who are seeking a financial partner where they feel valued and heard. This demographic is demanding a certain level of experience from its bank; one that educates on the purpose of wealth management in a safe, technologically secure, and practical manner – without compromising on the high tech and high touch personalised service.”

Edgar de Picciotto, co-founder of ikigai, concludes:

“This round of funding is encouraging as it validates the need for a fintech like us to provide a holistic view of money combined with purpose. We are ruthlessly client-centric and designed ikigai with an experience-first mindset to complement our clients’ lifestyles, as well as their complex financial needs. 

We listen to our clients and want them to experience the true meaning of financial wellbeing, especially as they enter their prime earning years. ikigai is here to ensure it helps each client become money-savvy using a transparent, goals-based and values-driven banking experience – where experience is core to instilling confidence when working towards personal ambitions and financial freedom. We want them to be able to invest well, save well and spend well.”

During the Crowdcube campaign and under its Wealth product, ikigai also launched its Stocks & Shares ISAs in time for the new tax year. This allows customers to invest up to £20,000 tax-free using its premium digital experience combined with a relationship manager offering a high-touch, human connection that digital banks and fintechs today don’t offer. Once onboarded, the app has a simple, clean design that easily separates money into accounts for spending, saving and investing through the Everyday, Nest, and Wealth product features. When investing, capital is at risk and the value of the investment can fluctuate. 

ikigai is currently available to download in the App Store here.

-END-

Notes to Editors 

For more information or to arrange to speak to ikigai, please contact ikigai’s press team below or visit ikigai.money. 

Press Team:

• Harriet Allner, Director of Fintech, Common Industry

 [email protected] / [email protected] / 07733107630 

• Henry Clatworthy, Account Manager, Common Industry 

[email protected] / [email protected] / 07974512897

You can also find out more about the crowdfunding campaign at crowdcube.com/ikigai

Download product and team imagery from ikigai here. 

You can find ikigai in the App Store here.

About ikigai 

ikigai is a new premium fintech putting self-care at the heart of personal finance. Uniquely combining wealth management with everyday banking, we empower clients to spend well, save well, and invest well – all from the same app. Distinctively and elegantly designed at every touch point –  from app to site to card – and with a flat-fee subscription model that is fair and transparent, we provide a holistic approach to your finances. When investing, capital is at risk and the value of investments may go down as well as up.

We’re not copying traditional banks, nor other challenger fintechs. We’ve learnt from them –  working with best-in-class technology partners to provide a best-in-class service that truly puts the client at the heart of everything we do. ikigai has already received £2.2 million in seed investment.

We are an electronic money institution, authorised to handle money, facilitate business transactions and currency exchanges. We do not offer certain financial protections, such as the FSCS deposit guarantee. All money held in our current and saving accounts are safely in a segregated and safeguarded account at the Bank of England. All investments are held by WealthKernel, a UK based custodian, regulated by the FCA. As such client investments are eligible for compensation for up to £85,000 by the FSCS.

When investing, capital is at risk and the value of the investment can fluctuate. Tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in future.

About the Founders 

Maurizio Kaiser is the co-founder of ikigai, on a mission to build the UK’s first real digital private banking service. Maurizio grew frustrated with the current “premium” banking offerings in the UK and believes private banking should be as smooth and seamless as ordering a flat white. Maurizio started his career at UBS and prior to founding ikigai he was a junior partner at McKinsey and Company where he led strategy and operational improvement projects for banks and asset managers. Maurizio also has a background in start-ups. He launched a Rocket Internet-backed company in Asia.    

Edgar di Picciotto is the co-founder of ikigai, a premium service combining digital banking and wealth management in one app. It is Edgar’s belief that your money should help you achieve your goals and reach financial harmony, rather than being the point of stress that it has always been. Coming from Switzerland, the country of banks, Edgar is fuelled by the desire to bring a premium service to the digital banking and wealth management landscape. Edgar brings his skills developed as a financial engineer and consultant at McKinsey and Company to design ikigai to better take care of our own finances.