Shares, Europe’s first social and investing app, today announces the appointment of Harjas Singh as Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer of Shares.
Previously at Revolut, Harjas was Product Owner in the Wealth & Trading Department and led the Analytics & Core divisions of the product across stocks, crypto and commodities. Harjas joins Benjamin Chemla, Chief Executive Officer and Françios Ruty, Chief Technology Officer as Co-Founder who have, in less than six months, built a fast-growth Founding Team of 80 to-date and one-of-a-kind social-first investing app from the ground up.
As CPO of Shares, Harjas is responsible for Product Development, Growth and Expansion, where his first priority will be the launch and then continuous development of “investing made social,” pioneering a whole new product category in the investing space. He joins at an inflection point for Shares, next month’s consumer launch in the UK, followed by the entire European market in early 2022. Harjas brings a wealth of experience in the finance and technology industries, including two years building the retail investing product at Revolut which was the first-ever zero commission fractional shares platform for customers across the EEA, which has since become the UK’s highest-valued Unicorn and Deutsche Bank, where he spent four years at the forefront of modernising the incumbent’s technology.
Benjamin Chemla, CEO & Co-Founder of Shares said: “François and I are delighted to welcome Harjas as Co-Founder and, on behalf of the team, Chief Product Officer of Shares, where his experience adds considerably to an already deep bench of talent. Since I first spoke to Harjas about how Shares was building a social-first investing app, we both agreed the vision could only be executed by seasoned scaleup experts but also people who shared our passion for a new kind of user experience and community. As Shares gears up to launch next month, Harjas will help us over the finish line and drive execution of the product roadmap ahead to create a category leader.”
Harjas is based in the rapidly growing London office and will also spend time at Shares HQ in Paris. Founded in early 2021, Shares emerged from stealth in September and revealed the previously unannounced close of one of Europe’s largest-ever seed rounds, $10 Million USD pre-product from investors that include early backers of N26 and Wise, a co-founder of the competitor app, Freetrade, and other industry leaders.
Harjas Singh, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer of Shares said: “I’m excited to join a team at Shares that has already built the foundations of ‘investing made social,’ opportunity to support the launch of the app and drive forward our vision for a new kind of community that’s missing from the first-generation of apps. Despite having worked in finance, I know from my own experience as a retail investor how inaccessible the world of investing can be even with today’s lower barrier, commission-free apps. There is real consumer demand for a social-first app like Shares designed to level the playing field so anyone can join the conversation and become an investor.”
Harjas added: “My decision to co-found Shares, was really one of conviction. There is a real need for an investing platform that creates a community, something we were all missing as users of existing apps. We’re going to fix those pain points with a user experience that breaks down barriers to investing, creating an inclusive place for every investor and truly democratise finance.”
The Shares app waitlist is open for subscribers to be the first users with access from December in the UK, followed soon after by investors across Europe in early 2022.