Openfolio

Openfolio operated as a financial technology company in the social investing space, founded in November 2013 by Hart Lambur and Yinon Ravid. The founders, both former Wall Street traders, conceived the idea based on the open and collaborative culture of their trading desks, aiming to replicate that experience for the general public. Hart Lambur, a Computer Science graduate from Columbia University and a former trader at Goldman Sachs, brought his financial and technical expertise to the venture. The company launched its platform in public beta in August 2014 and followed with a full launch on iOS and web in October 2014.

The core of Openfolio's business was a social investment network that allowed users to share the contents of their investment portfolios. The platform was designed to foster collective intelligence and help users make more informed investment decisions. A key feature was that portfolios were shared based on percentage allocations rather than absolute dollar amounts, aiming for a feeling of collaboration over competition. The application enabled users to connect their brokerage accounts and compare their portfolio's performance and composition against various benchmarks, including anonymized peer groups, indexes, and the portfolios of well-known investors. The service was free for users, with the company indicating potential plans for premium, fee-based features in the future.

The platform provided data-driven insights and comparisons, allowing investors to understand their performance beyond simple returns and analyze why they might be performing differently from their peers. For example, it generated data on how different demographics or geographic regions were investing and performing. Openfolio also incorporated a chat-style interface to deliver automated news alerts and simple advice, with a mechanism to connect users to professional financial services partners. The company raised approximately $2.9 million in funding over several rounds, including a seed round in September 2014. Despite early growth, PitchBook data indicates the company was out of business as of January 2020.

Keywords: social investing, portfolio sharing, investment network, fintech, peer-to-peer investing, investment comparison, portfolio analysis, financial data, Hart Lambur, Yinon Ravid, retail investing, investment community, financial application, portfolio management app, collective intelligence, investor benchmarks, financial social network, investment transparency, performance tracking, brokerage integration