What is Female Invest? 16,000 people download app before launch endorsed by Hillary Clinton and Emma Watson

Three individual women who found investing as teenagers to be ‘lonely’ and ‘difficult’ were drawn together by their similar personal searches for educational content about finance at university; and now they have built a hugely successful brand that has not only been named on the Forbes 30 under 30 list but has also been supported by some high-profile cheerleaders.

Anna-Sophie Hartvigsen, Emma Blitz and Camilla Falkenberg met one another at Copenhagen Business School in 2017 and teamed up to write a book called ‘Ready, Set, Invest’ that went on to become a bestseller in Denmark.

“We immediately bonded over this passion for investing and the frustration of the lack of women [in the field],” Anna-Sophie told PeopleWorld, “That’s why we decided to go on to Female Invest.”

Launched in 2019, Female Invest is a community that focuses on closing the financial gender gap and ‘shifting the tides’ so everyone can exist on equal terms after research found that it would be 267 years before the gap would close.

Anna-Sophie believes that the problem lies more with the world than with women specifically, based upon the fact that women get paid less if they are doing the same job and get different advice.

She added: “I think women are really negatively affected by stereotypes such as women aren’t good with money or don’t know how to invest so I think women internalise that.”

The three Female Invest co-founders have since raised $12 million in funding and expanded their company and ‘dream’ of helping women in Copenhagen to assisting females from 99 countries.

For Anna and her co-founders, success is directly linked to impact in terms of how many women can be helped and how much change they can create, which may be supported by their new app that launches today.

Anna said: “We have spent a very long time building it and taken input from hundreds and hundreds of women, [so we are] very excited to put our own words to it

“The feedback is the best part of the job from women who have used our product and hearing how it has changed their lives - the beautiful thing is that it is women from all walks of life who are taking charge. The main thing is that they all feel empowered and this is much more than money as well.”

Some 16,000 members have already downloaded the app before the Female Invest CEOs revealed the launch anywhere on their social media channels that have amassed over 230,000 followers.

The app involves learning content such as everything you need to know about making the most of your money and how to begin investing from themed courses and market news, (where Anna-Sophie and her co-founders would pick out key elements you need to know) as well as building a community to talk to other female investors.

“Investing is when you buy something in the hope that it will increase in value in the future, so on paper investing is just about money but I think it’s about so much more - in the ways to achieve freedom, independence and taking charge of your future,” Anna said.

The young CEO then clarified that their mission and app launch is not only about having an interest in financial markets, saying: “No matter what dreams you have, you will need money to get there and that’s why everyone should care about investing.”

Anna-Sophie’s dream certainly has come true after she claimed a Cartier Women’s Initiative Award in 2020 before Female Invest was listed in Forbes magazine for the 30 under 30 European list.

“Younger me would be very, very proud,” she told PeopleWorld, shortly after returning from Abu Dhabi where a Forbes summit was held for the companies who made the shortlist.

While at the conference in March, Anna-Sophie and her co-founder spoke to former first lady Hillary Clinton who in turn asked them about their latest book, “Girls Just Wanna Have Funds,” before sending a personal letter of correspondence stating that the politician was ‘cheering them on for their good and important work’.

Anna Sophie said: “We really struggled in the beginning as a young company so having someone like Hillary Clinton endorse us [is amazing], we have also been quite fortunate to have Emma Watson message us a few times about our book and we completed a webinar with Deborah Meaden as well from Dragon’s Den.

“Working with role models and inspirational women just inspires us to work harder, be better.”

You can download Female Invest’s app from the Apple Store today.