Flahmingo - Advancing investment literacy through fractional investing
Flahmingo
Taran Singh Kainth, co-founder and CEO of Calgary-based fintech startup Flahmingo, is deeply invested in helping people make good financial choices and in the power of giving back. Born and raised in Montreal, he watched as his parents were forced to rebuild their net worth after losing much of their life savings in the 2008 market crash and global economic downturn. The situation taught him about the need for investor education, the systemic weaknesses of the modern stock market and how it needs disrupting.
With Flahmingo, Kainth is proud to be launching a tool that will empower all Canadians to be informed investors.
HOW IT WORKS
Flahmingo is a commission-free fractional investment application. It provides any investor with the ability to invest as little as one dollar in more than 2,200 different stocks, including companies many would otherwise be unable to invest in due to high share prices. Users can set up automatic weekly, bi-weekly or monthly investment deposits.
Taran Singh Kainth, co-founder and CEO, Flahmingo
Flahmingo uses the analogy of a pie and slices to help explain how their investing app works. Your investment portfolio is a “pie,” and you can create up to 10 of them. Each pie has up to 100 “slices” – each slice being a company share or an exchange-traded fund (ETF). With Flahmingo the user is able to select a percentage to allocate to each slice, and the app will invest your funds automatically.
For example, you can have a “healthcare pie” filled with up to 100 different slices of healthcare company stocks, or a single generic pie filled with 100 slices of stocks from a variety of industries.
TEACHING FINANCIAL LITERACY
Flahmingo’s second major function is to educate people who are interested in investing but are hesitant to take the plunge because of the steep learning curve and nuances of both stock selection and portfolio management.
Flahmingo Central, the company’s app-based education hub, helps novice or first-time investors immerse themselves in the app, broaden their knowledge, and grow their investments. The app provides articles and information on investing, the stock market and other financial topics.
“I am continually surprised at how daunting the lack of financial literacy is,” explained Kainth. “Investing education lowers the bar for novices and gives them a taste of what it takes to be a successful investor. We want investors to really feel empowered and we are proud to help create the next generation of smart investors truly feel good about their investments.”
HOW TO BE A 23-YEAR-OLD SERIAL ENTREPRENEUR
Kainth’s first startup was a company called Sharyeo, which was a platform built to allow sharing or renting of multimedia equipment, such as cameras and other items like musical instruments. Think of it as a lending library and online marketplace all rolled into one. This peer-to-peer platform was developed as part of Kainth’s education at the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Mount Royal University. While the startup didn’t succeed, it did teach Kainth two valuable lessons. “I spent two years on this project, and it was an amazing experience. First, it taught me how to really build a company, but more importantly, it also taught me there is nothing else I want to do with my life than be an entrepreneur.” He was named EO Entrepreneur of the Year in 2018 for the Sharyeo endeavour.
This entrepreneurial drive inspired Kainth to persevere and develop Flahmingo.
“I think it’s imperative that we be unapologetic about our failures,” said Kainth. “Not every entrepreneur is successful and it’s important to remember that. The best entrepreneurs have battle scars from all of their failures. Learning about them is more valuable than learning how a company was successful.”
As someone who is part of the Canadian immigrant experience, Kainth has a different view about what it takes to have a successful Canadian start-up. “I really appreciated the drive I saw in my parents and what it took for them to succeed,” Kainth said.
Kainth had his first stock portfolio at age 12. “I’m a finance guy, not a developer dude. I think the very best entrepreneurs are those who disrupt every part of an idea,” Kainth explained. “I travelled around a lot during my first startup and I found that the places I went to lacked aspiration in some ways - but not Calgary,” he said.
What makes Calgary an entrepreneurial hotbed for Kainth and the Flahmingo team are others in the fintech and entrepreneurial ecosystems.
“There are so many people here that are passionate about the growth and vibrancy of Calgary. I think Calgary has the smartest people in Canada,” he enthuses. Kainth appreciates the vastly diverse backgrounds of Calgary’s entrepreneurs. “It’s allowed us to build capacity when we can collide and connect with other entrepreneurs. There are a lot of real champions for this city here,” he adds.
“There are so many people here that are passionate about the growth and vibrancy of Calgary. I think Calgary has the smartest people in Canada.”
BUILDING CAPACITY FOR THE NEXT GENERATION
When asked about advice for the next generation of entrepreneurs coming up behind him, Kainth’s advice is clear. “Find a mentor and buy them a coffee. The information and the advice you’ll receive are worth so much to a young entrepreneur.”
He is quick to point out that the best mentors may not know how to develop an app, per se, but “what they can teach you is how to grow a company and that is more valuable.”
In his previous startup, Kainth travelled to Silicon Valley to speak with investors and technologists. He became enthralled with fintech, especially in digital investments. Kainth knew he could learn from some of the amazing innovations he saw happening in California in order to build a successful company in the fintech space for Canadians.
Kainth returned to Calgary with a newfound skill – the ability to think big – and co-founded Flahmingo with the lofty goal of changing the way Canadians invest. Eventually, an advisory board was formed, and local tech and investment industry experts were invited to join. Ray DePaul, director of the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Mount Royal University; Berk Sumen, head of TSX Company Services; Jeff Paddon, partner at Lamont Brown Group; and Thomas Battle, now Flahmingo’s Chief Product Officer, all helped the Flahmingo team navigate the complexities of building an investment company in Calgary. Once Flahmingo was founded, additional mentors such as Kevin Sandhu and Hanif Joshaghani have helped Kainth build an impressive fintech startup.
Reflecting on his experience within Calgary’s entrepreneur community, he said: “Great entrepreneurs give back. They have an interconnectedness about openly giving back to the communities that supported them. They aren’t looking for a return, they’re simply looking to add value back to you. The best mentors are open about their experiences in one-on-one conversations and that includes learning about their failures.”
Kainth believes the best entrepreneurs focus on the outside and downside of an industry. He thinks people too close to a business or industry can never disrupt it because of their close proximity. “You can’t disrupt a system you’re part of,” he explained. “This path is not for everyone,” he cautions when speaking about being a tech entrepreneur. “Whether an idea is fintech doesn’t matter, the DNA doesn’t change. What does change is when you empower minds,” Kainth says.
Flahmingo team
WHAT’S NEXT
Flahmingo has raised $1.88M in pre-seed financing and is launching the app to the public in 2022. They have more than 5,000 early supporters currently on their waitlist who will get first access to the app as part of Flahmingo’s public launch.
Flahmingo plans to launch another gamified version of the app, focused on education. Kainth hopes an engaging interface will help people want to learn more about the stock market and best practices in investing, through educational pieces such as videos and articles.
In February 2022, The Peak newsletter named Kainth an Emerging Leader in the Finance and Investing category of their list of up-and-coming 2022 leaders. Flahmingo itself was named one of eleven Canadian tech companies to watch in 2022 by Betakit, Canada’s startup and tech innovation publication of record.
“We’re growing our company and our team,” said Kainth. "We’re looking for that go-getter mindset to come work with us. We look for those whose goal is to add value in everything they do,” he adds.
“Our goal is to build a better financial ecosystem. We have the opportunity to build rapport with others, to foster innovation within pockets of individuals within a larger group of innovators.”
Are you ready to make moves in Calgary’s tech scene, working with forward-thinking companies like Flahmingo? Head to our Live Tech Love Life careers page and see what opportunities might be out there for you.