Cass alumni secures cash injection of £4.5 million

Karan Shanmugarajah, (MSc International Accounting and Finance) and CEO of WealthKernel, scooped the funding from strategic investors, ETFS Capital to help make wealth management more accessible for everyday people.

WealthKernel provides all the infrastructure a financial business would need to start their own investment platform. By utilising this technology, businesses have the potential to service people who traditionally may have been left behind by wealth management companies.

Karan, who was a member of City Venture's business incubation space, the Launch Lab calls it: “plumbing for wealth management companies,” which operate in an industry built with leaky pipes, affecting small sums in pensions and savings.

Karan said: “Financial services in most Western Countries have remained the same for 30 or 40 years. Younger people today, who are living longer, moving around the world a lot more and working multiple jobs need a better more modern way of securing their finances.

“We use technology to provide this infrastructure to these people. They have historically been ignored by this sector, which focuses on larger sums. Regardless of the amount of money, we try to give people more visibility and autonomy of their pensions and savings.

“We can’t tell people what to invest their money in, but we can make sure that they have that choice.”

With offices in London and the Midlands, this funding represents one of the largest deals to come from a Nottingham start-up since 2018. Karan who graduated in 2010 still supports the City’s Launch Lab as a mentor.

Karan said: “I joined the Launch Lab as I wanted a safe ecosystem where we could grow as a business and get off the ground. It felt great to be part of a space where there were so many diverse businesses who were all at similar stages of our journeys.

“The Launch Lab knew exactly what we needed as a business and were able to set us up with one to one support from experts. I continue to help the incubator as it is so important that these spaces exist for young businesses.

“Our mission is now to keep growing and use this money to develop that space for everyday people to safely manage their money.”