Wine and watches investment app Koia bags $1.4m funding

An app backed by the co-founders of Monzo and Freetrade that offers investors the chance to invest in alternative assets like wine and watches has bagged $1.4m in a funding round.

The aim of Koia, set up last year, is to try and make investing in alternative assets accessible through fractional ownership. It wants to appeal to enthusiasts of the asset they are investing in, such as fans of watches.

Backers in the pre-seed funding round include Seedcamp, RTP Global, Portfolio Ventures and several angel investors.

Early backers of Koia include Monzo co-founder Gary Dolman and Freetrade co-founder Andre Mohamed, who didn’t take part in the latest round.

The app went live this month and is currently available for iPhone users.

Koia has three main revenue streams: one is a seller fee on the vendor of the alternative asset; secondly is a trading fee, as investors will be able to trade their fractional investments on the secondary market; and also a buyer fee when investors invest through the app.

At the moment, investors can invest in wine, whiskey and watches.

For instance, a future investment opportunity is a Rolex watch valued at €12,500.

The smallest amount investors can invest is €50.

Koia was founded by Richard Draper, Iris ten Teije and Ben Riazy, who have spent their careers in financial services and fintech startups.

Koia co-founder Teije said: "We want to enable a fractional economy and open up access to opportunities previously only accessible to the ultra-wealthy. We want to make buying and selling a fraction of a Rolex, as fast and frictionless as buying a fractional share in your favourite company.”