An In-depth Look at Ethan Bloch’s New Venture, Hiro: The AI-Driven Personal Finance App
The world of fintech is consistently being revolutionized by innovators like Ethan Bloch, the founder of Digit, a pioneer of automated savings. The app has become popular among several banks and fintechs and was acquired by Oportun in 2021. Bloch has now embarked on his next venture, Hiro, an AI-powered personal finance app that was launched in October. Recently, Bloch was hosted on the American Banker Podcast where he shared insights about his new company and app.[source]
An Early Start in Finance
Bloch’s fascination with finance began unusually early. At the age of 13, he convinced his parents to permit him to day trade his Bar Mitzvah money. Despite tripling his initial investment, he lost everything in the 2001 telecom bust. According to Bloch, this experience imparted a valuable lesson and sparked an enduring obsession with finance.
The Journey from Digit to Hiro
Before founding Digit, Bloch had established a successful venture-backed startup, Flowtown, a software for small businesses to market themselves on Twitter and Facebook. After selling Flowtown, he delved into the realm of personal finance, aiming to make a significant impact on people’s financial lives. This desire led to the inception of Digit, which focused on helping people save money through algorithmic saving.
However, Bloch had a grander vision. Inspired by Orson Scott Card’s short story, “The Investment Counselor”, he dreamt of creating an AI-powered tool that would help individuals navigate their financial lives. This aspiration gave birth to Hiro, a venture that Bloch believes is now feasible due to advancements in large language models (LLMs).
How Hiro Works
Hiro operates at the intersection of LLMs and personal financial data, offering a unique value proposition. It is currently focused on wealth management, providing high-impact workflows like financial planning, portfolio allocation, and tax planning. These areas, which previously required the expertise of an investment professional, can now be managed independently with Hiro’s assistance.
Ensuring Trust and Privacy
One of the primary challenges Hiro faces is establishing trust with its users. To ensure privacy and security, Hiro is built with the discipline of a Swiss bank, guaranteeing that user data is securely encrypted and inaccessible to team members unless explicitly shared. Furthermore, Hiro has a “max privacy” setting that makes a user’s data completely invisible in the internal systems.
Target Audience and Future Plans
Hiro is designed to serve the millions of high-income households in the U.S. that currently lack access to quality financial advice due to a shortage of wealth managers. The team at Hiro is also working on expanding its suite of services to include more comprehensive wealth management features.
While the app is currently in public beta and free to use, a subscription-based model is planned for the future. The goal for 2026 is to establish Hiro as a trusted brand in the financial space, offering a suite of services that cater to most of the needs of a wealth manager.
With Hiro, Bloch is once again pushing the boundaries of fintech, demonstrating how AI can be harnessed to provide practical, reliable, and efficient solutions for personal finance. As the world of finance continues to evolve, innovators like Bloch are leading the way, transforming how we manage our money and plan for our financial future.
For more detailed insights, you can listen to the full podcast Here.
