Ronnie Green went from sleeping in a car to using the stock market to turn a few thousand dollars into more than six figures. Now he’s using artificial intelligence to help others make a financial transformation.
Green cofounded Dallas-based AlgoPear, a marketplace matching investors with algorithmic trading strategies. The startup is in the midst of a $2 million seed fundraising effort, more than half of which has been secured, he says.
“Our mission is to empower the retail investor,” Green told Dallas Innovates. “We’ve grown about 20% month-over-month, so we want to put some fuel to the fire.”
The platform aims “democratize investing” by removing investment barriers to financial freedom for all income sectors.
New subscription model
Using a new subscription model, AlgoPear users are onboarded with a questionnaire to determine the algorithm that best fits their goals and investing strategy. From there, investments are automated and linked with a users’ broker account.
In addition to helping individual retail traders, Green said the company is looking to help small- and mid-sized firms increase their revenue under management.
AlgoPear launched in 2019
AlgoPear co-founders Ronnie Green, Ben Malena, LaKeisha Turner (Not pictured is Johnathon Albercrombie)
Green founded AlgoPear with cofounders LaKeisha Turner, Ben Malena, and Johnathon Albercrombie in 2019, in part based on his own experiences. Green, who lived in his car as a struggling student athlete, went on to form a group called the Young Millionaires Club to help others learn about trading. He eventually worked in investing for TD Ameritrade, which would later become a supporting broker for AlgoPear.
The experiences taught Green that the time required to comprehend and analyze markets was a hurdle for many.
He set out to solve that problem with AlgoPear.
“Our whole point is to push the needle on wealth and provide more wealth opportunities for the everyday investor,” Green said.
AlgoPear was founded by folks who have dealt with the same problems that most people have when building wealth: “Lack of time, money, and not knowing what to do.”
AlgoPear is Impact Ventures’ first portfolio company
Following the company’s launch, it raised a $10,000 friends-and-family round in 2020. That year, the AlgoPear was selected to join the early-stage accelerator program of Dallas nonprofit Impact Ventures. The move would become instrumental in AlgoPear’s growth trajectory, as the company would become the first investment Impact Ventures would make from its recently launched Dallas Inclusive Capital Fund, funneling $100,000 into the company.
Since then, Green said AlgoPear has onboarded more than 4,000 users, inked a partnership deal with Alpaca as its API broker, and grown its monthly recurring revenue with a team of 15.
“We’ve figured out the business model, we’ve figured out how to reach the retail investors… and we’ve been focused on that,” Green said. “Now, we’re seeing that hypergrowth that any founder or any investor would love to see right now.”
Removing the ‘roadblock of financial burden’
Expected to close in the next month, AlgoPear’s most recent funding is led by New York venture capital firm NOEMIS Ventures. With the money, the company plans to invest in marketing and customer acquisition with the aim of reaching 15,000 users. Green also said that AlgoPear also expects to grow the types of investments that users can trade in like cryptocurrencies, in addition to extending its product offering to reach professional investors—adding that algorithmic trading can help people with risk allocation.
Green says financial burdens can be a roadblock for people. “Imagine if people didn’t have to worry about the financial part, and they could actually worry about creating and making a better society,” Green said. “We’d have a lot more innovation in the world today.”
It’s a mission for Green, who believes “everyday people can spread wealth.”
He sees opportunities for more creators, to “not have to work late nights but actually focus on creating, because they have AlgoPear for their account.”
“[It’s] handling their finances and actually increasing their wealth, not just selling them a dream or another financial literacy tip,” according to the co-founder. “It’s actually pushing their current status and increasing their class.”
Quincy Preston contributed to this report.
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