A Seattle-area startup is setting out to bridge a long-standing gap between retail investors and the kind of sophisticated investment strategies that were once the preserve of hedge funds and ultra-wealthy clients.

Story Highlights – Read Box

• Founded: Early 2025, Seattle area

• Founders: Shashank Chiranewala (CEO) & Mitren Chinoy (CTO)

• Platform: Marketplace for curated, thematic investment portfolios

• Providers: Independent research firms (e.g., Citrini Research)

• Features: Automated replication, rebalancing, potential tax benefits

• Brokerage Integration: Interactive Brokers

• Assets Managed: $35 million+

• Funding Raised: $452,000 from angel investors

• Employees: 5

• Customer Base: Family offices, hedge funds, others

Founded earlier this year, Plutus offers a marketplace where users can browse a selection of curated, thematic portfolios developed by independent research providers. Once a portfolio is chosen, investors can replicate it automatically within their own brokerage accounts, removing the need for manual execution.

The idea came from co-founder and CEO Shashank Chiranewala, who has a background as an investment banker and as a program manager at Microsoft and Meta. He said the inspiration was partly personal frustration.

“Without multimillion-dollar minimums, access to truly sophisticated strategies just isn’t there for most people,” Chiranewala explained.

At the same time, he observed that there was no shortage of expertise — independent research firms were creating advanced portfolios for institutional clients — but they lacked the tools to connect with the broader investing public.

“Executing complex portfolios manually is a Herculean software engineering effort,” he added, noting that this technological gap has been one of the main barriers to entry for retail investors.

Plutus acts as an advisory marketplace between individuals and providers such as Citrini Research, offering strategies that can include AI and technology-focused portfolios or global clean energy plays. Unlike passive ETFs or mutual funds, these portfolios are designed for automated rebalancing and potential tax advantages.

The startup generates revenue by taking a share of subscription fees, which are set by each portfolio provider. For brokerage integration, Plutus has partnered with Interactive Brokers — a choice Chiranewala said was based on the firm’s global market reach and competitive interest rates.

Currently, Plutus is serving a small but diverse customer base, which includes family offices, hedge funds, and other investors. According to the company, its software is already managing more than $35 million in assets.

Earlier this year, Chiranewala and his co-founder Mitren Chinoy — a former senior software engineer at Snowflake and Microsoft — sold their previous venture, Formloge, for an undisclosed amount. Chinoy now serves as Plutus’s CTO, leading the technical development of the platform.

The company, which employs five people, recently secured $452,000 in funding from angel investors, money it says will help expand both its technology and marketplace offerings in the coming months.

Plutus is entering a competitive fintech landscape with a proposition that blends institutional-grade strategies and retail accessibility. By combining curated research, automated execution, and brokerage integration, the startup aims to lower the barriers that have historically kept advanced portfolio management out of reach for most investors. With millions already under management, fresh funding in hand, and a focus on scaling, Plutus is positioning itself as a potential bridge between Wall Street’s sophistication and Main Street’s ambitions.

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