OpenAI has bought AI personal finance startup Hiro
The acquisition indicates a capability that OpenAI is building into ChatGPT: financial planning.
OpenAI has acquired personal finance startup Hiro Finance, founder Ethan Bloch announced on Monday and OpenAI confirmed to TechCrunch. The startup was backed by A-list fintech VC firm Ribbit, as well as General Catalyst and Restive.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, nor did Hiro ever disclose how much money it raised. Since Hiro said it will be shutting down its operations on April 20 and deleting all data from its servers on May 13, we’re going to call this an acquihire.
Bloch said in his post that Hiro employees are coming with him to OpenAI. He didn’t specify how many employees that entails, but LinkedIn lists about 10 people associated with the company. Bloch did not respond to our request for comment.
The company was founded in 2023 and launched its AI tool about five months ago. Hiro offered AI-powered financial planning for consumers. Users entered financial information like salary, debts, and monthly costs, and the app modeled different what-if scenarios to help them make financial decisions.
Hiro was specifically trained to nail financial math, including an option that allowed users to verify accuracy, Bloch said in a demo of the product. Over the past couple of years, state-of-the-art frontier models have gotten significantly better (even good) at math of all kinds. But historically, they haven’t been.
This deal stands out for a couple of reasons. Bloch previously founded Digit, a digital-only bank that helped people automatically save money. Digit was sold to Oportun in 2021 for more than $200 million , according to Oportun.
Plus, this isn’t the first financial app OpenAI has bought. Given that OpenAI markets ChatGPT as a good tool for business finance teams , we can see why the model maker would be looking to add more talent to this side of the house. Whether OpenAI plans to pursue financial planning as a more specialized app, we’ll have to wait and see.
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It’s also possible that this acquihire is an effort to make OpenAI more popular with OpenClaw users, who often tend to prefer Claude. OpenClaw is a popular agent for robo stock trading. In fact, Bloch created his own auto-trading OpenClaw agent that he named RoboBuffett, he said on LinkedIn .
Another fun fact: Bloch told Business Insider that Hiro was the 15th project he launched, having started as a tech entrepreneur when he was a 13-year-old. The first 13 failed, he said. He sold No. 14, Flowtown, a social media SaaS tool launched in 2009, for $4.5 million. Bloch said he sold Digit for about $230 million. Now he’s sold his latest startup to OpenAI, a company that has broken records for growth and raising money, and may yet break records with an IPO.
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Key takeaways
- The acquisition of Hiro Finance may inspire innovations in Brazilian fintechs focused on AI.
- Ethan Bloch brings valuable expertise that could accelerate the development of financial solutions at OpenAI.
- OpenAI may be preparing to compete directly with established solutions in the financial market.
Editorial analysis
The acquisition of Hiro Finance by OpenAI is a strategic move that could have significant implications for the tech sector in Brazil, particularly in the context of fintech and artificial intelligence. By integrating financial planning capabilities into its ChatGPT platform, OpenAI can not only expand its functionalities but also enhance its competitiveness in a market already populated with established players. For Brazil, where the financial sector is in constant evolution, this move could inspire local startups to innovate in AI-based financial services, promoting a wave of new products and services that meet a growing demand for personalized and accessible solutions.
Moreover, founder Ethan Bloch's experience, having previously succeeded with Digit, suggests that OpenAI is seeking not just technology but also expertise in financial management. This may indicate a trend where tech companies look to acquire talent from successful startups to accelerate their development in specific areas. The fact that Hiro was a tool focused on modeling financial scenarios also raises questions about how OpenAI might integrate this functionality into its offerings, potentially setting a new standard for AI-based financial assistants.
Looking ahead, it will be interesting to see how OpenAI positions this new acquisition in relation to its market strategy. The possibility of creating a specialized financial planning app could open new opportunities but also presents challenges, such as the need to ensure regulatory compliance across different jurisdictions, including Brazil. With the growing popularity of virtual assistants and investment robots, OpenAI may be preparing to compete directly with established solutions like OpenClaw, which already has a loyal user base.
Finally, Hiro's acquisition can also be seen as a reflection of global trends in financial technology, where personalization and automation are becoming increasingly essential. For Brazilian startups, this represents an opportunity to align with these trends and explore market niches that have yet to be fully tapped, especially in a country where financial inclusion is a growing priority. The ability to offer intelligent and adaptable financial solutions could be a crucial competitive differentiator in the coming years.
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