How Investa Raised £1.8M and Built a 3,000-Person Waitlist Before Launch

Let’s be real. Most fintech origin stories sound the same. Big vision, bigger buzzwords, a sprinkle of VC backing, and suddenly it’s the “future of finance.”

But Alec Beasley’s story? It hits different.

Before launching Investa, Alec worked on the trading floor at Citi, helping hedge funds and asset managers transact billions through complex options trades. But after hours, he kept coming back to a simple question: Why can’t everyday people in the UK access these tools?

That question eventually led to a leap away from the trading floor, into a garage, and toward building a platform to change that.

Today, Investa has raised £1.8 million, built a 3,000+ person waitlist, and is getting ready to launch what Alec hopes will be a game-changer for retail investing.

What Traditional Finance Gets Wrong About Retail Investors

“There were only two platforms offering listed options to retail users in the UK. One needed a £10K deposit, the other £25K. I thought: this is crazy!”

While the seeds of Investa were planted during Alec’s time at Citi, it wasn’t until he tried to actually trade options himself that the problem hit home.

Yes, there were platforms, but they came with intimidating interfaces, inaccessible minimums, and fee structures designed for institutional clients.

“They essentially just took a professional trading desktop and slapped it onto a mobile phone. Unless you know exactly what you’re doing, it’s completely un navigable.”

That realisation turned into conviction. Alec quit his job, teamed up with his co-founder, Ross Lynch, and started building Investa from scratch in his parents’ garage.

Raising £1.8M (And Why £700K Came from the Crowd)

When Investa launched its crowdfunding campaign, the goal wasn’t just capital. It was a community.

“We didn’t just want customers. We wanted people who believed in the mission and were invested in it, literally.”

In under two hours, they hit their funding target. In less than two weeks, they were 200% overfunded, with 500+ investors on board. It became the most participated-in pre-launch product campaign of 2024 on Crowdcube.

“We saw it with Monzo, Freetrade, and Revolut crowdfunding creates alignment. People back what they help build.”

The rest of their raise came from individual hedge fund CEOs, fintech veterans, ex-colleagues, and even the founder’s friends and family. People who understood both the problem and the opportunity.

Scrappy Growth Tactics That Actually Worked

You don’t get a 3,000-person waitlist by playing it safe. The Investa team leaned into creative, low-cost experiments that punched above their weight.

One standout move? Posting job ads for app testers.

“We were already getting traffic from job listings when hiring. So we posted one for priority testers, and people messaged us asking to join the waitlist. It was free and super effective.”

They also ran experiments on Reddit and Meta ads, testing different messaging. One key insight: don’t assume your audience understands your product.

“We were leading with ‘zero commission options trading.’ But as most people don’t even know what options are yet, or how they can be used, that message alone wasn’t effective.”

The team shifted gears, segmenting audiences and refining messages based on user knowledge, interests, and behavior. Some personas cost more to acquire but showed way more engagement.

Building Education Into the Product, Not Just the Blog

“In the US, 1 in 3 under-35 y/o retail investors have traded an option. In the UK, it’s closer to 1–2%. That’s our opportunity.”

A big part of Investa’s mission is to educate. Alec sees a market full of retail investors who want to build wealth, but aren’t equipped with the tools or knowledge to do so.

“When the market goes down, most investors just watch their portfolio drop. But with options, you can hedge. You don’t have to sit on your hands.”

Education won’t be a side project. It’s going to be built into the platform itself, interactive content, explainers, and use cases, all designed to make new users feel confident and capable.

And while some early adopters are already options-savvy (hello Reddit finance nerds), Alec knows the real growth lies in turning the curious into confident traders.

Growth Lessons From the Trenches

“You can’t optimise for cheap leads. You have to look at what happens after the signup.”

Early on, the team focused heavily on minimizing cost-per-lead. But they quickly realised that not all leads were created equal.

“It’s not about the lowest acquisition cost. It’s about the highest-quality users and the lifetime value they bring.”

That learning shifted how Investa runs campaigns today, with a focus on understanding the real engagement from leads.

Final Advice to Founders: Just Start Throwing Darts

If Alec had to boil down his founder journey into one piece of advice, it would be this:

“You don’t get lucky by waiting. You get lucky by doing. Throw more darts.”

There were tough moments. Days when the startup felt like it might not make it. But Alec kept going, testing, adjusting, and learning.

“If you’ve still got a glimmer of hope that it can work, keep pushing.”

From a garage-built MVP to a seven-figure raise and thousands of early believers, Alec Beasley’s story is a powerful reminder that you don’t need permission to solve a real problem. You just need to start.