On the heels of the retail investment wave, Manning Field, a former C-suite executive at Acorns; Benjamin Rapaport, former senior software engineer at Google; Miles Cole, a serial entrepreneur, and Danny Evens, cofounder of Atomic, have teamed up to launch the first community-centric platform to automate copying of trades for U.S. equities to U.S. clients.
Field, Rapaport, Cole and Evens shared that after seeing so many companies try and fail to empower investors to become stock pickers, Follow has been built as a social media platform with the aim of democratizing access to the markets and giving retail investors access to screened voices by joining selected finance-focused influencers, or “Leaders,” and individual investors.
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Follow’s investors shared that the inception of the company was catalyzed by the sustained rise of the retail investor and social platforms like Reddit, TikTok and Instagram operating as collaborative spaces for sharing investment ideas.
“The next generation is changing how we consume information, while simultaneously driving a movement that is rapidly increasing consumer interest in money,” said Manning Field, cofounder and chief executive officer of Follow. “Portfolios of the future will be portfolios of people, not asset classes, and Follow aims to be the platform that makes it easy for people to learn how to secure their future using a diversified approach of people.”
Follow’s model begins with vetted influencers with a responsible perspective on the market and who regularly disseminate consistent, investment-themed content. The app has already signed a diverse set of Leaders to its platform, including Austin Hankwitz, WOLF Financial, Breyanna Nava and Patrick Meng. As Follow’s creator network grows, the platform plans to foster an inclusive, informed community and build upon its creators’ fan bases.
Unlike traditional social platforms, Follow’s proprietary review process evaluates Leaders’ history of responsible social media behavior and disciplined investment strategies. Leaders will share brokerage data before joining the platform, allowing Follow to assess investment styles, commentary and conduct and evaluation of the alignment of social messages to historic investment activity. Once a Leader’s profile is turned on, their behavior is monitored for another 30 days.
In the future, Follow plans to live as a platform where aspiring investors will learn from and opt to invest behind everyday people — extending beyond influencers — who present responsible money ideas. The goal is to democratize financial ideas coming from the masses in an authentic, verifiable way.
Notably, Follow, which launches with $9 million in funding, was founded and funded at venture studio Atomic, with additional investments from Uncork Capital and Vera Equity.