Unhedged

About

Unhedged is a Melbourne-based fintech that offers an AI-powered robo-advisor app and AFSL-governed unit trust packaging multiple algo trading strategies developed by an in-house quant team for retail investors.

Mission

Unhedged launched a consumer app that delivers AI-driven algorithmic investing built by an in-house quant team and available in the app store. The company positions itself to democratize quantitative investing for everyday retail investors, arguing algorithms and automation can scale investment strategies previously accessible only to large funds. Unhedged publicly launched after onboarding an 8,000-person waitlist and running a beta with about 1,000 customers. That beta produced early results cited by the company (+0.65% versus an S&P500 benchmark of -3.33% for January 2022) and the team emphasizes defensive algorithmic states to mitigate loss. The business raised 3.1 million in equity to fund the consumer launch and go-to-market. Founders include Peter Bakker (ex-Google), Glenn Vanbavinckhove, PhD MBA (ex-CERN) and Saskia Albers (ex-Volt); the company is based in Melbourne, Australia and aims to scale as consumer interest in AI-driven financial products grows. Founded in 2020 by Peter Bakker, Unhedged builds an app that helps retail traders who invest through platforms such as Robinhood by offering share-trading algorithms. The company positions itself to democratise what it calls a “broken” share trading system and aims to disrupt the market on a global scale. Founder Bakker has stated ambitions that include reaching unicorn status. Unhedged is currently conducting an equity crowdfunding campaign on Birchal. The campaign hit its $350,000 minimum in 45 minutes, passed $1 million in six hours, and at the time of writing had raised $1.72 million from 638 investors. The round is targeting a $3 million maximum with several days remaining. Unhedged builds an AI-powered robo-advisor delivered via the Unhedged app and an algorithmic investing service. Its core product packages multiple trading algorithms into a unit trust governed by an AFSL, letting investors assign money to algorithm strategies. The team says it has extensively back-tested three algorithms for market launch and that four algorithms showed strong historical performance. The raise will fund headcount growth and the build-out and launch of the first user-facing app and services. The company plans to launch an AI-powered algorithmic investing service for sophisticated investors next month, followed by a mobile retail app in July. Founder Peter Bakker has a decade-plus background building trading algorithms and layered AI into his models since around 2018; the startup’s CTO is Glenn Vanbavinckhove, an ex-CERN researcher turned hedge fund quant.

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