Wealthsimple History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones

The genesis of Wealthsimple traces back to 2012 in San Francisco. Michael Katchen, a graduate of Western University's Ivey Business School, was working as head of business development at 1000Memories, a digital photo-sharing startup backed by Y Combinator. When 1000Memories was acquired by Ancestry.com, Katchen and his young colleagues found themselves with sudden financial windfalls. When his coworkers asked how they should invest their money, Katchen built an Excel spreadsheet model—dubbed the 'Wealth Simple' model—designed to automate smart, passive index fund allocations based on modern portfolio theory. The spreadsheet went viral among his colleagues, who praised its simplicity and clarity. Recognizing that mutual fund fees in Canada were notoriously predatory—averaging over 2% annually compared to less than 0.5% in the US—Katchen realized there was a massive market opportunity to build an automated, technology-first investment platform for everyday Canadians. Katchen returned to Toronto in 2014 and reconnected with his childhood friends Rudy Adler, an award-winning creative designer, and Brett Huneycutt, a McKinsey consultant. Together, they founded Wealthsimple in September 2014, operating out of a shared co-working space with a mission to make financial freedom accessible to everyone.