Democratizing early-stage investing for 50K+ retail investors

About the project

ICLUB is a fintech platform democratizing early-stage investment access. It replaced fragmented deal discovery, manual approvals, and scattered investor communications with a unified mobile-first marketplace for retail investors.

Investors can browse syndicated opportunities, complete KYC verification, track portfolios, and manage investments—all in one app. The back-office team gained automated workflows, real-time reporting, and operational efficiency. What began as a simple deal-sharing mechanism evolved into a comprehensive investment ecosystem serving everyday investors across Switzerland and expanding to Europe.

Product Management

UI/UX design

Development

€120M+

Assets under management

25,000+

Active investors

70%

Investment completion rate

94%

Growth in investment volume

Problem

ICLUB needed to democratize early-stage investing—making investment opportunities accessible to private investors through a organized club model.

However, managing investor club operations manually created significant challenges:

Fragmented investor experience. 
ICLUB members had no centralized way to discover deals, access startup information, and express investment interest.
Operational complexity for back-office. 
Managing deal opportunities, investor interests, and KYC verification required manual coordination across email and spreadsheets.
No mobile accessibility.
Investors couldn't track opportunities or manage portfolios on-the-go.
Compliance & scalability concerns. 
As membership grew, manual KYC and deal management became unsustainable.

Our process

We partnered with ICLUB throughout the entire product journey, following our proven Product Ladder model. Each step built on the previous one, ensuring we moved from validation to stability to scale, with clear ownership at every stage.

STEP `01`

MVP: validated the product with a focused first version

We defined core scope and designed key flows, then built the first release in React Native. This resulted in a working MVP that proved the concept and attracted early users without technical debt.

STEP `02`

Product foundation: build a stable, scalable platform

We strengthened backend architecture, implemented critical infrastructure, and automated KYC/AML via Sumsub across mobile app, web application, and admin panel. The result was a production-ready platform with 99.9% uptime, 70% faster onboarding, and automated compliance.

STEP `03`

Dedicated product team: continuous ownership without context switching

Rather than hand off the product, we embedded a dedicated team (product manager, UX/UI designer, frontend and backend engineers, QA) with no context switching. This ensured continuous delivery, features shipped on schedule, and a stable partner instead of rotating contractors.

STEP `04`

AI & product intelligence: reduce friction with measurable impact

We automated KYC verification via Sumsub—turning 5-7 days of manual review into 50 seconds of automated checking—and built investor communication and deal management automation. Manual back-office work dropped by 70%, transforming regulatory compliance into a competitive advantage.

STEP `05`

Scaling & long-term partnership: Designed for 10x growth

We built everything for scale from day one with architecture tested for 100K+ concurrent users, database replication, and predictable infrastructure. Today, ICLUB manages €120M+ in assets, serves 25,000+ active investors with zero regulatory violations, and is ready to scale 10x without rewrites. This engagement is ongoing as we continue shipping new features and improvements to strengthen the platform's capabilities and support ICLUB's expansion into new markets.

What we built

01

Mobile app for investors

Investors can discover investment opportunities, access detailed startup information including financial metrics and pitch decks, view team members, and express their investment interest. The app supports offline viewing, real-time portfolio tracking, push notifications for new deals and milestones, and seamless KYC integration for new members.

02

Web app for investors

A web-based companion to the mobile app where investors can browse deals, access comprehensive startup profiles, manage their portfolio, track investment performance, and monitor fund deployment. Provides a full desktop experience for research-heavy activities and portfolio review.

03

Web admin panel

ICLUB's back-office team manages deal opportunities, tracks investor interests, handles KYC verification, and maintains investor relationships. The dashboard provides real-time reporting on deal performance, investor engagement metrics, portfolio distribution, and operational insights. Bulk operations and workflow automation reduced manual work by 70%.

04

Compliance & security

Automated KYC/AML on signup. Data encrypted at rest & in transit. Swiss data residency for regulatory compliance. Comprehensive audit logs for all sensitive operations. Annual penetration testing and compliance audits ensure institutional-grade security standards.

05

Backend & infrastructure

Java Spring Boot microservices architecture. PostgreSQL with read replicas for scalability. AWS ECS, RDS, S3, CloudFront for global performance and reliability. Load tested for 100K concurrent users. Designed for predictable scaling as membership grows.

Results

The platform repositioned ICLUB from a local investment club into a globally accessible investment platform.

By building a mobile-first experience with institutional-grade compliance, we enabled thousands of retail investors to access early-stage investment opportunities previously available only to VCs and accredited investors. The scalable architecture and automated KYC processes established the foundation for rapid growth—from zero to 25,000+ active investors managing €120M+ in assets within the first year. Clear product design, intuitive workflows, and reliable infrastructure strengthened investor trust and simplified deal management for ICLUB's back-office team.

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Democratizing early-stage investing for 50K+ retail investors