Why we invested in Hiro

Why We Invested in Hiro

Some startups begin with an idea. Others begin with unfinished business.

We’ve known Ethan Bloch for as long as we’ve been investing. In fact, one of Ryan’s very first investments was an early bet in Ethan’s first business, Digit. The vision behind Digit was simple: make people’s financial life easier by helping them save. 

Digit was a pioneer in text based communication, machine learning and certain payment flows and the company helped millions of Americans automatically save billions of dollars. The Digit journey was a great one, culminating in the company's successful exit to Oportun in 2021. Even today, Digit remains one of the best examples of the elusive vision of a “self driving wallet.” 

But Ethan’s dream was always bigger: a truly intelligent financial partner—one that could understand your entire financial life and actively help you navigate it. But that dream had met its technical ceiling in 2021. 

That’s no longer the case.

Hiro is the manifestation of the Digit dream: An AI-powered personal CFO. Hiro uses today’s advances in large language models to deliver intelligent, real-time financial support. From managing cash flow to answering complex money questions, Hiro aims to be the most trusted voice in your financial life.

Ethan’s co-founder, Rushabh Doshi, brings the perfect technical and product complement. Rushabh had helped grow Digit from a savings product into a broader financial platform. After Digit’s acquisition in 2021, they took time apart—Rushabh dove headfirst into the world of LLMs, and Ethan stepped back to recharge. When they reconnected in early 2024, it was clear the landscape had shifted. The tech had finally caught up to the vision they’d once shared. The dream was no longer out of reach.

We’re backing Hiro because we also never gave up on the dream. We continue to believe that consumer financial services is one of the largest opportunities in the market and couldn’t miss the opportunity to back a proven team of exceptional talent, motivation and vision. We’re proud to support them and partner, once again, with our friends at Ribbit and General Catalyst to chase the vision that started it all. Let’s go!