On Monday, July 1st, 2024, at 6:00 am, Ambition A.M. interviews Samantha Rosenberg and Avion Gray, the co-founders of the wealth-building platform Belong. The duo aims to tackle the issue of millennials not investing their savings due to perceived lack of time or money. They founded Belong in 2023 to educate, inform, and empower young investors.
Belong’s flagship product, the ‘Boost Loan’ feature, allows young investors to borrow and double their investments through a low-interest loan. Users repay the loan monthly while their investments compound. The platform secured €3.4m (£2.9m) in pre-seed funding, making it the largest pre-seed round ever raised by female founders in Europe.
The Boost Loan aims to help young investors start investing immediately, by requiring only half the initial investment amount. This approach has been well-received by beta users, with 84% opting in and a 100% retention rate and on-time repayments after 15 months.
However, some may question the wisdom of investing borrowed money. Rosenberg explains that this strategy can enhance both the upside and downside of investments, much like property investments. Belong ensures that users understand the risks involved and encourages them to invest money they can afford to put away for the long term.
Despite the challenges of introducing a new concept in the fintech industry, the combination of a behavioural economist’s and an investment banker’s expertise seems to be Belong’s secret to success. The future looks bright for Belong, with global ambitions to address the problem of young investor mindsets in markets beyond the UK.
