May 17, 2008
Strands now calling the personal finance tune
It may seem a stretch from music to personal finance, but the team behind the MyStrands music recommendation service is now advising on the best way to spend or invest your money.
Strands, which has Spanish roots but has rebased itself in Oregon, has plenty of cash on hand to plan its own investments, having raised $29m last year, $24m coming from Spanish bank BBVA, and $65m in funding overall since it was founded in 2003.
It followed its own recommendations and used some of the money - figures were not disclosed - to acquire NetworthIQ this week, a social personal finance site that allows users to track their net worth and share and compare it anonymously with others.
That follows the recent acquisition of Expensr, a personal finance site that allows users to categorise their expenses and compare their spending habits with their peers.
Last month, Strands launched moneyStrands, its own personal finance site, in private beta. This can aggregate a user’s online accounts and provide a snapshot of their finances along with an anonymous comparison with others.
“Its kind of addictive, you could compare yourself with other journalists in the Bay area and see whether you spend more on your mortgage or have a bigger salary than them,” Gabi Almadiz-echevarria, head of communications at Strands, told me, by way of intriguing example.
All well and good, but sharing music tastes is one thing, making your financial data available to everyone, despite the guarantees of anonymity, may be a social step too far for many.
Strands will also adapt its music-recommendation technology, which learns what users like from their listening habits, to provide personal recommendations for financial products that could save its members money or prove to be a good investment for their situation.
The company clearly has the finances to be a consolidator in this field and mount a challenge to better known sites such as Mint.
“Personal finance was an opportunity that we saw a year ago when we started discussions with BBVA, and we want to lead the explosion of sites in this area,” said Almadiz-echevarria .
