Spenny

Spenny was a micro-saving and micro-investment mobile application in India that automatically rounded up users' everyday transactions made via cards, UPI or netbanking to the nearest Rs. 10, 20, 50 or 100 and invested the spare change on their behalf. Users could direct roundups into either digital gold or mutual funds, and could also make one-time lump-sum purchases into gold or a mutual fund basket starting from as little as Rs. 10, with no lock-ins and withdrawals available at any time. Onboarding was positioned as taking under a minute, and recurring investments were executed automatically after a one-time bank account link through Autopay. According to a company profile, Spenny built a "managed diversified portfolio" for users, invested into the ICICI Prudential Liquid Mutual Fund, and also offered a Mastercard debit card for saving and investing.

The company framed the product around the Indian concept of a "Gullak" (piggy bank) and stated a mission of raising India's investing population from about 3% to 15% within five years. Its site described bank-level security, AES-256 encryption, partnerships with insured custodians including the Bombay Stock Exchange, regulation by SEBI and AMFI licensing (ARN-170468, EUIN-E339688), and money handled by professionals from institutions such as ICICI, Aditya Birla and Paytm.

In March 2023 Spenny asked users to withdraw deposits, sell digital gold held on the app and redeem funds, stopping new deposits as it phased out the service. In June 2023 the Economic Times reported that fintech company Cred had acqui-hired Spenny's founding team, with members including founder Rathin Shah joining Cred's product team.

Founding story

Company materials describe the founders examining, in late 2019, why only about 2.9% of Indians invested despite roughly $450 billion in annual household savings, concluding that lack of time, knowledge, capital and an excess of product choice were the barriers. Citing Princeton research suggesting a blindfolded monkey could beat expert stock picks, the team ran experiments to test whether investing could be made simple and entertaining, arriving at an automatic roundup product framed as a digital Gullak.

Business model

Spenny operated a consumer fintech app distributing third-party investment products (digital gold and mutual funds). One profile states the company charged 1% of the money invested. Investments were executed through SEBI-regulated mutual fund houses, with Spenny holding AMFI distribution licensing (ARN-170468, EUIN-E339688).

A fee of 1% of the amount invested, per a third-party company profile.

Traction

The company's site claimed it was trusted by more than 400,000 Indians. A third-party profile listed fewer than 10 employees and total funding of $150,000.

Latest developments

In March 2023 Spenny stopped accepting new deposits and asked users to redeem funds and sell digital gold as it phased out the service. On 23 June 2023 the Economic Times reported Cred had acqui-hired the founding team, with Rathin Shah and other founding members joining Cred's product organisation.