Connor Lane and Hannah Pham are co-founders of Arbela, a decentralised autonomous organisation that invests in community generated ideas and provides strong incentives to contributors whilst maintaining full transparency.
Part of the 2022 Plus Eight Accelerator cohort, it was recently announced that Arbela alongside five other startups would be moving on to Phase Two of the program, where they will gain access to a pool of $500K seed-funding, and will get the opportunity to pitch for follow on investment at Demo Night in December, a part of West Tech Fest.
When asked how they have found the Plus Eight Accelerator program so far, Connor Lane stated that immediately after joining the program, they were prompted to reassess where they needed to focus their business.
“Since then, the weekly facilitated sessions with Derek, Kylie and the masterclass hosts have kept us moving forward quickly and single-mindedly."
When asked how their startup journey began, Connor shared his thoughts.
“Hannah and I met back in 2017, interning at Think-Tanks in London. Over the years we have remained friends and checked up on each other a few times a year, to see how our careers were going. At the last meetup, we decided to go for it and start a business.”
Arbela is unique and fills a viable gap in the market. They invest in community generated ideas, and provide users with the tools to find the best ideas, and give them a performance fee when they do.
“Managed funds don’t cater to investment communities or young people- and we wouldn’t trust them even if they did! Arbela will work for this market,” Connor continued.
When asked what the ‘wow-factor’ is with Arbela, Connor states that it’s ultimately their high value investor networks and user reputation. Arbela can verify users credentials and track records while preserving their anonymity to the rest of the community, which is great because it allows them to spot great ideas by experienced investors.
It is widely known that the current financial system doesn’t cater to everyone, and if you feel left behind by it, Arbela would love to get your help in building better solutions. You can contact them via their business email here.
To read more about the other five startups alongside Arbela, moving on to Phase Two of the Plus Eight Accelerator program, read our Phase Two announcement blog here.
To express your interest in joining our 2023 Accelerator Cohort, find out more about the program here, and fill out this form to be the first to know when applications open.
