Thomas Brennan & Sebastian Patel (Franc): Simplifying Investing For South Africans.

The Startup Club Podcast

In this episode, we're thrilled to sit down with Thomas Brennan and Sebastian Patel, Co-Founders of Franc, the simple and easy-to-use mobile app that let’s South Africans invest in leading cash and equity funds in just a few minutes - with no minimums, no paperwork and no fine print.
Despite having a robust financial services market, South Africa's savings and investment culture remains relatively poor - largely because of high fees, cumbersome admin, subjective advice and minimal investment education.

In response, Franc was founded in 2018 on the premise that everyone should be able to access the best investments - in a smart, low-cost and simple way. Since then the platform has grown to over 120K users, received an average rating of 4.3* across app stores and won accolades from the likes of Seedstars, Visa and MTN App of the Year. They’re also graduates of the Google for Startups and Grindstone Accelerators.
In 2022 and on the back of 400% year-on-year customer growth - Franc launched it’s B2B offering (Franc Business) - fuelled by an R8 million seed round with participation from ASISA ESD and 4DX Ventures. On a mission to make investing more affordable, accessible and social, the journey is only getting started for the Franc Team.

We talk about:
• Tom & Seb's upbringings, early careers and alignment on their mission.
• Leaving flourishing corporate careers to become tech founders.
• Lessons from building a startup that's solving a hard problem.
• What they would do differently.
• What's next for the Franc Team.
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Connect with Thomas: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drtpbrennan/
Connect with Seb: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebpatel/
Connect with Mathew: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mathewmarsden/
This episode was brought to you in partnership with FNB South Africa - the country's "Best Digital Bank" and a comprehensive financial services provider that's committed to supporting the startup ecosystem in driving innovation and growing the economy. To learn more, or to connect with their team, visit fnb.co.za.

The Startup Club Podcast dives into the stories of South Africa's leading tech startup founders and investors, their journeys of innovation, failure, resilience, and triumph and is an initiative of Startup Club ZA - the country’s fastest-growing tech startup and investor community. If you're passionate about entrepreneurship, innovation, solving hard problems, backing the change-makers and co-creating a better country, then you're invited to join us! 🇿🇦
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