Y Combinator veterans raise $15 million to build an AI money manager that thinks like a wealthy family office

Dillon Erb and Daniel Kobran, seasoned entrepreneurs and alumni of Y Combinator, have successfully raised $15 million to develop a cutting-edge financial advisory platform powered by artificial intelligence. Their latest venture, Autonomous Technologies Group (ATG), follows the successful sale of their previous startup, Paperspace, to DigitalOcean for an impressive $111 million in 2023. The concept for their new financial app, named Autonomous, emerged as Erb and Kobran looked to streamline their finances after the sale. Positioned as a finance-centric applied AI research lab, ATG is set to challenge both traditional wealth managers and existing robo-advisors, which they argue often provide generic advice or impose high fees. "We’re not claiming that our AI will select the best stocks for you," Erb explained. Instead, Autonomous aims to empower users by implementing strategies typically utilized by wealthy families, such as optimizing tax efficiency through selective stock management, rather than relying solely on conventional index funds, and dynamically adjusting portfolios to mitigate risk. The funding round was led by Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan, who has a history of collaboration with the duo from their initial YC experience in 2015. Other participants in this pre-seed financing included BoxGroup and Collaborative Fund. With a growing team of 15 employees based in New York and San Francisco, ATG plans to utilize the new capital to expand its engineering and AI research staff. Tan highlighted that the financial advisory sector remains one of the last areas where human intermediaries extract significant value without offering commensurate benefits. He emphasized that the timing is ideal for this innovative team to make a substantial impact. As major banks and emerging startups like Stash, Vise, and Range increasingly adopt AI in wealth management, Autonomous is poised to enter the market this quarter, offering its app for free to initial users. The app leverages real-time market insights and personalized user data to deliver proactive portfolio oversight and comprehensive financial advice, encompassing investments, real estate purchases, and career opportunities. While Autonomous provides free advisory services applicable to current accounts, it generates revenue through its Autonomous Index, a trading platform requiring manual approval for transactions. The app also assists users in constructing personalized stock portfolios, which can lead to tax savings. Although Autonomous is the flagship offering of ATG, the company's ultimate goal is to create a fully automated financial institution capable of replacing traditional advisory roles. Kobran envisions a platform that can manage all aspects of a user's financial landscape, including retirement funds, cryptocurrencies, and equity from startups. In the long run, he aims for the app to facilitate services typically reserved for affluent individuals, such as angel investments and estate planning, democratizing access to wealth management for everyone.