Financial advisors have a big hurdle when it comes to finding new clients: Cold outreach rarely works. Often, the only way to find a good prospect is to tap your network for warm intros, or trawl platforms like LinkedIn, Pitchbook or ZoomInfo in hopes of landing a meeting, which may or may not convert.
Eden Ovadia says she learned that when she was working at Boston Consulting Group, helping big financial institutions with their growth strategies: “[Financial advisors] have no way to qualify these leads or reach their particular niche at scale, with the result that they spend an average of 58 hours going after unqualified prospects before converting a single one,” she told TechCrunch in an interview.
The problem’s apparently even worse for independent advisors, who often don’t have a big team doing outreach or finding qualified leads. Ovadia saw an opportunity there, and with the help of her two co-founders, Victoria Toli and Theo Janson, started Finny with a simple goal: To build an AI agent that could match advisors with prospects who meet their search criteria.
After a financial advisor signs up and provides what they’re looking for, Finny trawls through its database to narrow down potential clients in the advisor’s target niche. The startup also provides a prioritization score that’s essentially like a compatibility score because it is based on the predicted chances of a client converting.
In essence, then, Finny has the potential to provide what could almost be qualified as a “warm” lead, helping advisors find customers who they have the most chance of converting.
In addition, the platform suggests optimal channels to reach out to high-priority prospects, handles follow-ups, and schedules meetings.
Soon after it was founded in late 2023, Finny got into Y Combinator and joined the Summer 2024 batch. The company launched an MVP in May 2024 and has now raised $4.2 million in a seed round co-led by Maple VC and HNVR, with participation from Crossbeam Ventures, Liquid 2, and Y Combinator. Angel investors Morningstar CEO Kunal Kapoor, Gusto CPO Tomer London, and Deel COO Dan Westgarth also invested.
In the six months since launch, the startup says it has seen its revenue rise by 150% every month, and it now serves over 40 customers. Additionally, nearly 250 qualified and vetted firms are on a waitlist. Finny, which monetizes through subscription and success fees, said it has doubled its revenue since the YC Demo Day in September.
The company initially targeted independent financial advisors because the co-founders observed they had fewer resources compared to advisors at large institutions. However, the startup has recently noticed a market shift towards banks, indicating a significant opportunity in that sector as well.
“Our target base is comprised of more than 90% RIAs [registered investment advisors], but we are in the process of setting up trials with some of the larger banks,” Ovadia said.
With the new money, Finny plans to grow its engineering team and enhance its product. The startup now has seven staff.
Its competitors include ZoomInfo, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Crunchbase, and Pitchbook. Other peers could be marketplaces that match clients with advisors. Platforms like Farther, Savvy Wealth, and Robinhood provide wealth management services.
This article originally appeared on TechCrunch at https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/11/yc-backed-finny-helps-financial-advisors-find-new-clients/
