Fintech companies have successfully made it easier to pay for and buy things. However, it is still not easier for an average person to invest their savings. Investing is often seen as complex, risky, and time consuming, where most people believe the barrier of entry is too high. But Dutch scaleup Peaks makes investing not only easy but paves the way for financial freedom.
Founded by Tom Arends, Rutger Beens, and Sijbrand Tieleman in 2015, and incorporated in 2017, the founders spent about a year researching the idea. Amsterdam-based Peaks serves a market that left young people and women out of the investment landscape. The story of Peaks is not only about making investment easy but also about financial inclusion.
A non-accessible investment landscape
The idea of Peaks stems from an investment landscape that primarily catered older, wealthier people and men. Tom Arends, with experience in the retail investment space, says he has given many presentations in his previous career to retail investors, but almost never young people or women. Tieleman and Beens leading a digital agency that helped financial organisations innovate.
The pivotal moment came from combining their experiences with creating financial savings and investments apps for banks. “Bringing our experiences together was the Eureka moment for Peaks as we saw the vast blue ocean of consumers who weren’t served by the market,” says Arends, CEO of Peaks. “It also led to our mission to make investing accessible for everyone, everyday.”