Philippine startup, Investa, a finalist in the 2020 Emerge X Startup Competition, recently launched an innovative first investment platform built on Microsoft Azure to provide Filipinos with inclusive access to low-cost investment opportunities and financial benefits.
In recent years, more Filipinos have been investing in the stock market with the rise of financial technology and online trading platforms, making investing more convenient and accessible. Despite this increase though, only about 1.27 percent of Filipinos invest in equities partly because of insufficient financial awareness and education.
"We started Investa with the aim to empower Filipinos to achieve financial freedom," said Airwyn Tin, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Investa. "Investing in the stock market is a viable way to augment income towards financial security and success, but most people lack the knowledge and skills needed in stock trading. There is also a lack of user-friendly and affordable investment platforms, which ultimately led us to build our own. Investa aimed to address these gaps by providing a wide array of learning resources, tools, analytics, and now, the new Investa app has evolved into a first investment platform designed for every Filipino."
In its initial deployment, Investa was a learning tool, giving users access to investment strategies, insights, and even a virtual trading platform to simulate the experience of buying and selling stocks without actual financial risks. The platform also provides updates on publicly listed companies and facilitates a community of traders where members can share news and insights.
Today, Investa has over 1 million users and averaging 20 million views per month and has evolved into a full-fledged investment platform, catering to all Filipinos.
"With the new Investa app, anyone can invest in the best-performing mutual funds in the country and even abroad, even with minimal funds. People can do so according to their risk profiles and financial goals. Whether they be conservative investors or high-risk-takers, they can choose the funds that suit their lifestyle," said Tin.
Looking to create a scalable and secure platform, Investa partnered with Microsoft.
They joined Microsoft's regional Emerge X competition, which was held at the Philippine Startup week last year, and were chosen as a finalist. This kickstarted a year-long mentorship program with Microsoft for Startups designed to help them scale and accelerate their growth.
Microsoft also helped Investa set up its cloud infrastructure on Microsoft Azure, allowing the platform to handle more users and workloads without compromising speed or performance, even during peak usage. Investa also utilizes Azure DevOps and Azure Application Insights to help detect errors in advance, so the platform gets fixed immediately. To ensure data security, Investa harnessed a wide array of Microsoft Azure's security options, which are configurable and can be customized based on their specific security requirements. Microsoft Azure's offering of financial services is also designed to enhance risk management and counter fraud.
With its platform powered by Microsoft Azure, Investa is well-positioned to onboard more users as it looks to expand its reach further in the country and abroad.
"Awareness and literacy are critical to any positive financial outlook. Investa's easy-to-use platform enables Filipinos to learn how to invest their money in a smart way. Moreover, as more individual investors participate in the stock market, they help new and established enterprises raise capital to open new business opportunities, accelerating the country's economic recovery. We will continuously support the growth of Investa so that more people can have these opportunities fully and inclusively,” said Abid Zaidi, Chief Marketing & Operations Officer at Microsoft Philippines.
The app is now in beta phase with ongoing registration for early access. (Register here: http://invs.st/NewInvestaApp