OpenAI has bought AI personal finance startup Hiro

The first StrictlyVC of 2026 hits San Francisco. Tickets are going fast. Register now. Save up to $680 on your Disrupt 2026 pass. Ends 11:59 p.m. PT tonight. REGISTER NOW. TechCrunch Desktop Logo TechCrunch Mobile Logo LatestStartupsVentureAppleSecurityAIApps EventsPodcastsNewsletters SearchSubmit Site Search Toggle Mega Menu Toggle Topics Latest OpenAI has bought AI personal finance startup Hiro Julie Bort 5:23 PM PDT · April 13, 2026 OpenAI has acquired personal finance startup Hiro Finance, founder Ethan Bloch announced on Monday and OpenAI confirmed to TechCrunch. The startup was backed by A-list fintech VC firm Ribbit as well as General Catalyst, and Restive. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, nor did Hiro ever disclose how much money it raised. Since Hiro said it will be shutting down its operations on April 20 and deleting all data from its servers on May 13, we’re going to call this an acquihire. Bloch said in his post that Hiro employees are coming with him to OpenAI. He didn’t specify how many employees that entails, but LinkedIn lists about 10 people associated with the company. Bloch did not respond to our request for comment. The company was founded in 2023 launched its AI tool about five months ago. Hiro offered AI-powered financial planning for consumers. Users entered financial information like salary, debts, and monthly costs and the app modeled different what-if scenarios to help them make financial decisions. Hiro was specifically trained to nail financial math, including an option that allowed users to verify accuracy, Bloch said in a demo of the product. Over the past couple of years, state-of-the-art frontier models have gotten significantly better (even good) at math of all kinds. But historically, they haven’t been. This deal stands out for a couple of reasons. Bloch previously founded neobank Digit, which helped people automatically save money. Digit was sold to Oportun in 2021 for, it said, more than $200 million. Plus, this isn’t the first financial app OpenAI has bought. Given that OpenAI markets ChatGPT as a good tool for business finance teams, we can see why the model maker would be looking to add more talent to this side of the house. Whether OpenAI plans to pursue financial planning as a more specialized app, we’ll have to wait and see. Techcrunch event Meet your next investor or portfolio startup at Disrupt Your next round. Your next hire. Your next breakout opportunity. Find it at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, where 10,000+ founders, investors, and tech leaders gather for three days of 250+ tactical sessions, powerful introductions, and market-defining innovation. Register now to save up to $410. Meet your next investor or portfolio startup at Disrupt Your next round. Your next hire. Your next breakout opportunity. Find it at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, where 10,000+ founders, investors, and tech leaders gather for three days of 250+ tactical sessions, powerful introductions, and market-defining innovation. Register now to save up to $410. San Francisco, CA | October 13-15, 2026 REGISTER NOW It’s also possible that this acquihire is an effort to make OpenAI more popular with OpenClaw users (who often tend to prefer Claude). OpenClaw is a popular agent for robo stock trading. In fact, Bloch created his own autotrading OpenClaw agent that he named RoboBuffett, he said on LinkedIn. Another fun fact: Bloch told Business Insider that Hiro was the 15th project he launched, having started as a tech entrepreneur when he was a 13-year-old. The first 13 failed, he said. He sold No. 14, Flowtown, a social media SaaS tool launched in 2009, for $4.5 million. Bloch said he sold Digit for about $230 million. Now he’s sold his latest startup to OpenAI, a company that’s broken all records for growth, raising money, and will potentially will break records for an IPO. Julie Bort Venture Editor April 30 San Francisco, CA StrictlyVC kicks off the year in SF. Get in the room for unfiltered fireside chats with industry leaders, insider VC insights, and high-value connections that actually move the needle. Tickets are limited. Most Popular Sam Altman responds to ‘incendiary’ New Yorker article after attack on his home Anthony Ha Anthropic temporarily banned OpenClaw’s creator from accessing Claude Julie Bort France to ditch Windows for Linux to reduce reliance on US tech Zack Whittaker YouTube Premium and YouTube Music are getting more expensive Aisha Malik This founder helped build SpaceX’s most powerful rocket engine. 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