Volio

Thomas Beatty spent years in investment banking before realizing his true mission: helping the next generation become financially independent. The spark came from understanding that traditional investing platforms like Robinhood and Wealthfront only broke down one or two barriers to entry—cost, knowledge, time, or fear. Volio would address all of them at once by enabling people to invest together, pooling money and splitting fees while leveraging collective intelligence.

Beforty's team spent several years building the platform, first in a simulated context before registering as a FINRA member in the United States. The company finished registering across US States in March of last year and has grown to about eight team members split between the US and Vancouver, where Beatty is based. They created a simulator app with a free million dollars to invest, allowing users to practice risk-free—and this became a powerful tool for running competitions with NASDAQ and the TMX Group to drive financial literacy among university students. One standout competition saw a top team return over 200% annualized (37% over 10 weeks).

Volio's early adoption came through word-of-mouth and the simulator competitions. The platform attracted thousands of people to the free simulator, and eventually converted hundreds to real-money trading. Users embraced the core value proposition: a team of nine members splitting a $12 trade fee costs just $1.30 per person per trade versus $4 for individuals. What made early customers stick was the social accountability—nearly half of them set up monthly recurring contributions, creating peer pressure to invest consistently and build better financial habits.

The community gamification worked beautifully. Volio tracks every proposal and vote made by each member, creating a track record that feeds into a leaderboard of top-performing clubs and individuals (without revealing wealth amounts). This turned investing into a social sport. Users naturally gravitated toward two to three trades per club per month—modest but consistent activity that didn't encourage destructive behavior. The white-label opportunity for credit unions and community banks emerged as the next big unlock, positioning Volio not just as a consumer app but as a platform company.

After raising $5 million from high-net-worth individuals and VC investors, Volio emerged from soft launch with over a thousand user profiles, dozens of active clubs, and hundreds of active users. With $2,500 in revenue last year (early stage), the company is poised to scale customer acquisition significantly. They're launching Crypto Leo, a crypto version of the platform, first in Canada and then the US later in the year, applying the same social-trading model to major cryptocurrencies. The vision has evolved from a social trading app into a platform company enabling banks and credit unions to offer collaborative investing to their members.