Raiz founder George Lucas lands $2.5 million pre-Seed for his new AI fintech
George Lucas, founder of ASX-listed fintech Raiz Invest, is back in startup land with a new idea, an AI Copilot for the financial adviser market, securing $2.5 million in a pre-Seed round to take it global.
And after a bruising battle over his previous fintech, he’s off to the US to do it.
YBL.AI uses artificial intelligence to perform tasks such as document scanning, meeting notes transcription, managing a knowledge base, and using embedded tools such as Monte Carlo simulations (a model used to predict the probability of a range of outcomes amid random variables) and budgeting.
Lucas calls the YBL (Your Beautiful Life) platform “a significant leap in AI technology” to help financial advisors be competitive and innovative.
“We launched YBL.AI to transform the financial advice industry, and the positive response from early users of the product and investors in the company endorses our vision,” he said.
“The platform greatly enhances advisor-client interactions, improving workflow efficiency and affordability for a diverse range of organisations, especially in Australia amid ongoing advice reforms.
“YBL.AI enables advisors prioritise client relationships, potentially reduce fees for existing clients and tap new client pools. With 80% of Australians not currently using financial advice, our platform could create new markets for advisors.”
Lucas did not name his backers and said he’s off to re-domicile YBL.AI in Delaware as a US corporation, having set up offices in Sydney and Silicon Valley alongside a distributed team in the US, Vietnam and Australia.
The launch of his new fintech comes two years after his departure from Raiz Invest (ASX: RZI) following an extended boardroom battle over the micro-investing app he launched in 2016 and took public in 2018.
Lucas departed the business and his CEO role in December 2022, having also revealed earlier that year that he has high-functioning autism and a photographic memory.
While the Raiz share price rallied briefly above $0.58 cents in the month following his departure, it’s subsequently fallen to below the level around his exit, and now sits at $0.36 cents in recent trade. Raiz floated at $1.80 a share.
Now his focus is on creating a user-friendly experience for financial advisers, with a drag-and-drop solution on YBL.AI to help them produce statements of advice more quickly to lower the cost and hopefully drive demand.
He’s build YBL using locally-hosted large language models (LLMs), small language models (SLMs), and proprietary technologies to guarantee a secure user experience and is hoping to achieve SOC2 (a security and compliance standard) certification this month.
Lucas claims YBL can save users 95% of the time typically needed for common tasks, and optimises key workflows across XPlan, Microsoft Office, Email, Zapier, and other applications.
