72. Propelle

DEI Award Shortlisted

For the business that demonstrates committed diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative and how it has been embedded in the company.

Startups 100: DEI Award

Founder: Ayesha Ofori
Year founded: 2019
Website: propelle.io

In 2023, investing is still very much a boys’ club. In the UK the gender investment gap is bigger than the GDP of Switzerland, with 73% of women not feeling confident enough to invest money compared to just 58% of men. But Propelle is on a mission to change that.

Founded in 2019 by Ayesha Ofori, Propelle is a lifestyle investment platform designed to empower women to build wealth through regular investments. Ofori’s lightbulb moment came when she left her Wealth Manager position at Goldman Sachs, feeling unfulfilled after six years of advising ultra-rich, mostly male clients. 

Ofori used her skills and knowledge to develop an educational network where she taught women how to invest in property, find deals, and diversify their investments. After the network exploded to 2,000 without a penny being spent on marketing, Propelle was born.

Built on the three key pillars of financial education, community, and investment, Propelle is the only investment platform on the market that’s designed specifically for women, and that considers their unique needs and preferences while providing them with a safe and supportive environment to start their investment journey.  

Being a woman of colour, Ofori admitted raising funds was initially a challenge. However, through sheer tenacity, the founder has been able to raise high six figures in angel investors, which will help Propelle to realise its full potential. 

And the platform’s future looks bright. In five years time, Ofori expects Propelle to be the go-to place for women looking to build long-term wealth, through educating its audience on how to invest in traditional assets like equities and bonds and alternative assets like property, as well as offering financial resources like calculators and courses.

With Propelle’s Beta version currently being used by 6,000 women, and its full release coming in January 2024, we can’t wait to see what next year has in store for the equitable wealth management platform.