How a Clementi fintech founder is helping middle-income Singaporeans navigate rising costs

In a modest office above a coffee shop on Clementi Road, a quiet revolution in personal finance is taking shape. Priyanka Menon, 34, founded PortfolioAI two years ago with a mission that feels increasingly urgent: help ordinary Singaporeans invest their way out of cost-of-living pressures.

The numbers tell a compelling story. According to recent Ministry of Manpower data, median household income in Singapore has grown by 3.2 per cent annually over the past five years—yet housing costs, food inflation, and transportation expenses have outpaced that growth. A family of four now spends roughly $5,800 monthly on essentials, up from $4,900 in 2020. For many, traditional savings accounts offering 0.05 per cent interest feel like treading water.

PortfolioAI's platform, launched in early 2024, cuts through that anxiety. The app uses machine learning to build customised investment portfolios for users with as little as $500—far below the $10,000 minimum many private banks demand. Menon's breakthrough was simplifying jargon. Monthly fees are transparent. Risk levels are explained through everyday analogies rather than academic terminology. Within eighteen months, the platform attracted 47,000 users across Singapore.

"People aren't afraid of investing," Menon explains in a recent interview. "They're afraid of not understanding what they're investing in." Her observation resonates particularly in neighbourhoods like Tampines and Bukit Batok, where young families juggle mortgage obligations with children's education fees. The app now offers curated portfolios designed specifically for Singaporean life stages: the first-time HDB buyer, the parent saving for university, the retiree seeking passive income.

The impact is measurable. Users report average annual returns of 6.8 per cent—modest by venture capital standards, but transformative for those living paycheque to paycheque. For a 32-year-old administrative officer in Bishan, an extra $3,000 annually from investments can mean the difference between supplementary tuition fees or not.

Menon's success has not gone unnoticed. In May, she secured $8 million in Series A funding from regional investors, positioning PortfolioAI for expansion across Southeast Asia. Yet she remains grounded in her original mission: making wealth accessible, not exclusive.

As Singapore's cost of living continues its upward march, entrepreneurs like Menon are proving that solutions need not be complex or expensive. Sometimes they just need to be honest, transparent, and genuinely designed for the people actually living here.

This article was compiled by AI from the sources linked above and screened before publishing. See our editorial standards.