Koia – Invest like the 1%

Koia - Invest like the 1%

This week I spoke to Iris ten Teije, the Co-Founder of Koia. Koia are democratising access to alternative assets allowing retail investors to buy fractional ownership in assets like fine wine, luxury cars and watches.

Hi Iris, thank you so much for taking the time to speak to me. I’m so excited to learn more about Koia and your plans for the future. First, up – the pitch! What is Koia?

We are a platform to democratise access to alternative assets. We let anyone invest in what they know and love. What we mean by “alternative assets” is tangible collectables: fine wines, watches, classic cars. The idea is that we fractionalise ownership of these assets, so that you don't need to have £100k to get started.

The last time we spoke, I remember you were thinking about which asset class to start with. You were looking at wines. Is that still the case?

Yes! We’ve been building our waiting list over the last few months which has given us the opportunity to get some insight from early adopters. We have also run some online ads to test engagement and wine and spirits have been the most popular – although not by much! Since any alternative asset can potentially make a good investment, what appeals most also comes down to what people are personally interested in and passionate about. We’ve seen demand for almost any item we tested, which is great, but of course can make it more challenging to decide what asset class to start out with!

“We’re interested in access, storage, cost and size and stability of returns”

Beyond potential customer interest, what else dictates your decision to choose which asset classes to present first?

Firstly, sourcing. There are a number of very well-established merchants that we can partner with to allow us to source  high-quality items. However, when it comes to very rare assets, like art, they can be more difficult to source and there are more issues around authenticity. That being said, as we grow we of course intend to build relationships and also source one-of-a-kind and very rare assets as part of our offerings. 

Moreover , we thought about storage and cost per unit. The infrastructure for wine – where to store it, how to store it – is very established in the UK, so it is more accessible. Furthermore, the per-unit price is a bit lower compared to  other items which means it is an ideal asset class to start with and we can source and fund best-in-class items  even with a smaller user base. 

Finally, we’re of course interested in size and stability of returns. We believe fine wine makes a great investment and over the past 10 years it has gone up by about 10% a year, as have watches for example. To summarise, we’re interested in access, storage, cost and size and stability of returns.

Something that comes to mind, when it comes to the ownership of luxury assets is… ego. Beyond returns, a big part of buying and owning luxury assets is expression of status. Do you see this as an issue and, if so, how are you countering this?

Absolutely - this is very, very important in this kind of world, and even with regular stock investing. People like to show off their gains, show that they've invested in Tesla and post it on Instagram – so it’s something we’ve definitely considered. 

Our plan is to involve digital artists in Koia so that we can create beautiful representations of the assets a user has bought a fraction of. That way it becomes compelling to share with friends. This is not an immediate feature on our roadmap but the ultimate vision is to incorporate AR and allow people to show off their assets in a way that they could with the physical assets. Investors could own a small percentage of multiple luxury bottles of wine and see and show them in a digital wine cellar. 

“The ultimate vision is to incorporate AR and allow people to show off their assets in a way that they could with the physical assets”

So, what inspired you to start Koia?

I have been investing for the past few years, I am interested in investing and I have been able to generate very strong returns, so I was looking at new ways to diversify. I started looking at alternatives, specifically luxury assets, and the barriers to entry were so high – particularly with regards to cost and access – that I figured there must be a way to democratise this industry. 

The world’s wealthiest have invested in assets such as luxury cars, art and fine wine for hundreds of years. The same opportunities have remained out of reach to most people. Our goal is to change this. We believe every investor should be able to invest in what they know and love.

Secondly, we’re seeing a huge trend in increased retail investment. Freetrade’s customer growth has been incredible, increased hype around cryptocurrency and phenomena like /WallStreetBets has brought investing more into the mainstream. As part of this trend, we’re seeing that retail investors like investing in brands they know and buy from as well as invest in item they love: think for instance of StockX, the sneaker marketplace that is now doing more than a billion in sales each year. . There is clearly an interest in investing in brands (or assets) that the average person understands – so that’s how I recognised the opportunity and started Koia.

“The world’s wealthiest have invested in assets such as luxury cars, art and fine wine for hundreds of years. The same opportunities have remained out of reach to most people.”

Amazing! So what’s next for Koia – what are the big next things on your road map?

First up it’s the launch of our app. Development is going really well and we’ve made great progress so this is the big next step. Of course, we’re starting with a stripped back set of features, with the first iteration just focusing on the fundamentals: sourcing an asset, listing it, having people buy into it. We expect this to launch for a closed test at the end of the quarter . Then the plan is for a bigger and more public launch in Summer when we aim to have external users on the platform.

Super! I’m so excited to see you go live.

Finally, what companies are you excited about in this space? Who else should I be talking to?

There are so many exciting companies out there, but to stay in the crowdfunding theme: I’m really excited by a company called Kontinuous. What they’re trying to do will be hugely disruptive to the crowdfunding industry and they’re definitely one to look out for! 

Amazing! Thanks so much for your time Iris. 

If you’d like to sign up for Koia’s waiting list and get the first opportunity to invest via their platform you can sign up here: https://www.joinkoia.com/