Piggy appearance to create a straightforward app for first-time investors in Asian nation

The name Piggy may appear weirdly uninviting for associate investment app — that is serious business — however co-founder Nikhil Mantha says it holds a sort of comfort that ought to attract users in Asian nation to start out building and coping with their own portfolio.

You could most likely draw some similarities to Robinhood within the us, however Mantha says Piggy — associate app coming out of Y Combinator’s summer category this year — satisfies a number of India’s distinctive challenges with a special user flow. The principle continues to be pretty straightforward: build associate app to assist users simply manage a various portfolio of investments that area unit engaging to the typical human and first-time capitalist.

“When we have a tendency to were wanting to unravel this drawback, we have a tendency to completed lots of individuals area unit terribly intimidated by something finance,” Mantha aforementioned. “When you say one thing sort of a Vanguard, it sounds terribly daunting to individuals. we have a tendency to needed to make one thing basic that’s terribly intuitive for users. we have a tendency to were undoubtedly wanting up to style principles within the U.S. we have a tendency to additional lots of our own artistic juice. we have a tendency to were gazing the ultimate method and needed to create it easier for individuals in Asian nation to know. There area unit lots of flows that exist in Robinhood that wouldn’t add up for Asian nation.”

Mantha and his co-founders Ankush Singh and Kunal Sangwan came from varied banking backgrounds.

At the time, they were giving investment recommendation to their friends and families, Mantha aforementioned, that prompted them to do to create associate app that will facilitate individuals build a private investment strategy. Piggy currently charges a basic group action fee for every of the transactions the user makes, like alternative investment apps. Users get an summary of funds out there and therefore the app offers them suggestions — hoping to make a straightforward approach for users to start out investment directly.

“We act as associate negotiant wherever we offer a straightforward to use platform,” Mantha aforementioned. “You will register on-line, track your portfolio returns and everything else. we wish to create the Vanguard for Asian nation. we have a tendency to started with this however that's what we glance to try to to within the future. That’s a while away, however there area unit lots of steps to the method. the primary was to make one thing easy to use, then produce a lot of professional options to help those investments, and so look to make the investment product that area unit easy for individuals to know.”

Given the scale of the business chance, there'll naturally be challenges.

As a clean computer program for investment, for now, Piggy is also at risk of alternative startups choosing off an analogous bucket of users with their own differentiated computer program. the main fund homes in Asian nation can try and push their own investments and should opt to track the app in their own ways that. simply standing as associate negotiant puts Piggy during a precarious call. That was one among the massive queries of the Y Combinator interview, wherever the firm probed Piggy on however it had been about to focus directly on user expertise and growth to create the app defendable.

“They we have a tendency tore drilling down on however we area unit specializing in users,” Mantha aforementioned. “The already saw that the market includes a large scope, the theme is specified one thing we have a tendency to attained creating this app and creating it fashionable organically. They we have a tendency tore a lot of targeted on however we have a tendency to were narrowing down on the shoppers we needed to serve and do this higher. within the method of the full batch, they very instructed America to try to to that.”