Futuregrowth invests in SA personal finance startup LifeCheq

Futuregrowth Asset Management has invested in LifeCheq, a startup that offers digitised holistic personal finance.

LifeCheq, which was founded in 2015 by Abubakari Malik Addae (pictured above), Shen Tian, David Jacka and Dylan Flint, who all worked formerly at life insurance provider Old Mutual.

The startup aims to make expert advice accessible to professionals and entrepreneurs who are currently not served well by the existing financial advice industry.

The investment was made last month, through the asset manager’s Futuregrowth Development Equity Fund (DEF), Futuregrowth said in a statement last week.

Futuregrowth, which has previously invested in SA fintech Yoco in 2018, did not disclose how much it had invested in LifeCheq (see this story).

LifeCheq, which was founded in 2015 by Abubakari Malik Addae, Shen Tian, David Jacka and Dylan Flint

Amrish Narrandes, Futuregrowth’s head of unlisted equity transactions, said in the statement that the investor was attracted to LifeCheq’s ability to use technology to offer a financial service in an attractive way to a far broader market.

LifeCheq targets both individuals, for their personal use and employers, who are interested in offering their employees a financial wellness programme.

Futuregrowth said these potential markets give the startup a diverse sources of revenue and expand the reach of the business across a wide variety of individuals and company employee bases.

Addae, who serves as CEO, previously served on Old Mutual Emerging Market’s executive committee. On the operational side, Tian, co-founder and COO, has a computer science and actuarial science background.

This, while the startup’s CTO Jacka, combines a deep software engineering background with a passion for using technology to simplify people’s lives.

Flint, who is the Head of Advice, has extensive experience in all aspects of modern finance, including capital markets and product design.

Featured image: Lifecheq CEO and co-founder Abubakari Malik Addae (LinkedIn)