About 80% of millennials and Gen Zers receive financial guidance from social media, which they credit with boosting their financial literacy and making discussions about money less taboo.

Over 50% also report making money directly from this financial advice.

But, not all influencers and traders on social media can be trusted. Their claims may be inaccurate or false, sometimes resulting in poor experiences for followers yearning for financial education through doing.

That's where Parrot Finance comes in, addressing potential issues through vetting and verification. Users can follow and replicate the investment decisions of their favorite influencers and investors in-app.

Parrot Takes Off

Founded by female founders Nikki Varanasi, Lucy Yang and Victoria Yang, the San Francisco-based startup draws on extensive experiences in finance, investing, and engineering from McKinsey & Co, Goldman Sachs Group, Coinbase, KKR & Co., The White House and Morgan Stanley.

In support of their venture, Varanasi shared that Parrot raised more than $2 million from investors, including Techstars, Western Union Co., Harlem Capital, Lightspeed, former Apex Clearing leadership and Litquidity, the viral social media account that's amassed millions of followers.

"Parrots are among the most intelligent birds and can imitate human speech, which represents what we've built and highlights communication and transparency around investing while being able to mimic trades and strategies," Varanasi said.

When approved influencers trade, users receive instant notifications and can replicate by specifying the number of shares or fractional amounts they wish to buy or sell. Influencers can earn revenue by charging a monthly subscription, bringing a Patreon-like model to the finance and investing sector.

"We've integrated with all the top brokers, such as Robinhood, E-Trade, Fidelity, Charles Schwab, TD Ameritrade, Webull, TradeStation, and many more," Varanasi said. "This allows users to seamlessly link their existing brokers to Parrot and trade stocks across all their accounts in one place. Gone are the days of opening multiple apps to invest."

By having influencers connect their brokerage accounts, subscribers see authentic data regarding their portfolios, reducing the potential for misinformation.

"Parrot helps build trust in the investing community and creates a transparent environment for sharing financial journeys. Investing doesn’t need to feel lonely," said Varanasi.

Aside from creator profiles, the platform has a category for insider and government trades, including portfolios from top politicians like Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Pete Sessions and CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Jamie Dimon and Warren Buffett.

"We have about 200 profiles of politicians and top business leaders, and users have full access to when these figures buy or sell stock in real-time," Varanasi said.

"By making this public information accessible in an engaging, delightful user experience, the hope is that users on Parrot will be able to understand the markets better and learn investing strategies from all kinds of prominent figures."

Where To Find Parrot

Parrot is live on the iOS App Store, with an Android version coming soon. The platform has integrated large creators and Discord trading groups, attracting millions of followers.

"We're seeing lots of demand as markets pick up again, and we've positioned ourselves to scale as we continue to partner with quality creators and traders," Varanasi said.

Photo: Courtesy Parrof Finance