Fintech Hugo raises $2m to tackle Singapore’s savings crisis

Co-founded by a trio working in the South Asian fintech community.

Savings and investment app Hugo, co-founded by a team including a founder of London-based gold trading app Glint, has raised $2m to launch in Singapore.

Hugo aims to combine savings features, like roundups and utility switching, which have boomed in popularity over the past few years, with smart investment offerings so users can both save and invest in the same place.

“It’s very clear that people didn't have enough savings for a rainy day, you can see the stats, people are living in a world where the cost of living is so high and, ironically, the temptations to spend are frictionless,” Hugo’s chief operating officer and co-founder Ben Davies told AltFi.

Among the novel features debuted by Hugo, merging the themes of saving and investing, is roundups that are automatically invested into gold.

“A lot of people in Asia have an affinity for gold, but didn't realise they could buy in small denominations, which is exactly what we’re enabling.”

Davies, who co-founded Glint in 2015, is working with a founding team including CEO David Fergusson and chief product officer Braham Djidjelli.

AltFi can exclusively reveal that the trio have secured $2m in seed funding in order to expand the MPV of their app which is currently in-market. 

The funding has come from Fergusson’s holding company Nimoi Holdings and early-stage investor 1982 Ventures, with participation from several family offices and the founding team.

“We know that Money is the biggest cause of stress and Covid-19 has only reinforced how financially unprepared most of us are,” said Fergusson.

“We are excited to introduce Hugo at a time when financial wellbeing has become so relevant.”