EasyEquities went from zero to R2 billion a month

Charles Savage went from surfing around the world to founding EasyEquities, one of South Africa’s most influential investment platforms, which received a record R2 billion in deposits on its platform in February.

EasyEquities has completely transformed South Africa’s investing landscape and made it accessible to everyday people – but the idea for this giant came about on a Mozambique beach after a few beers.

Savage originally studied accounting because he believed it was a global qualification that would allow him to surf around the world. However, surfing was always his true priority.

He spent about 18 months travelling through destinations such as Australia, Hawaii, the United States, Spain, and Portugal.

During this trip in the 1990s, Savage encountered the internet for the first time. In 1996, one of his friends launched a South African internet start-up building websites.

This inspired Savage to abandon his accounting ambitions and join the early wave of digital entrepreneurs. He began building, selling, and marketing websites, working in the space until the dot-com bubble burst in 2000.

During this period, he became particularly interested in financial services. He believed the internet would fundamentally disrupt the industry. However, turning that vision into reality proved difficult.

In the early 2000s, South Africa’s digital ecosystem was still developing. Internet access was slow, data was expensive, smartphones did not yet exist, and large portions of the population were unbanked.

As a result, the number of people investing in stocks barely grew between 2000 and 2013. But by 2013, many of those obstacles had disappeared.

Data had become cheaper, mobile technology had advanced, banking access had expanded, and smartphones were widespread. Even so, participation in the stock market still remained limited.

The EasyEquities idea

Savage began reflecting on why the industry had failed to bring more people into investing. The breakthrough moment came while on holiday in Mozambique with friends and family.

Despite being exactly the type of people who should have been comfortable buying shares, none of them had ever invested through him. After a few drinks on the beach, Savage asked them why.

The overwhelming response was that it simply had to be easier to invest. The platforms were intimidating, the language was confusing, and the interfaces were difficult to use. They were also afraid they might make a mistake by pressing the wrong button.

The solution seemed obvious. If investing could be made simple and accessible, they said they would be willing to participate. This was the problem EasyEquities wanted to solve.

The platform was designed to remove the complexity surrounding investing and allow anyone to easily access the stock market, including shares listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

Savage also identified another major barrier: affordability. Many shares cost hundreds or even thousands of rand, placing them out of reach for many potential investors.

To solve this problem, EasyEquities introduced fractional shares. Instead of having to buy an entire share, investors could purchase a small portion of one, allowing them to start investing with only a few rand.

This meant someone with less than R10 could now gain exposure to JSE giants such as Naspers, Standard Bank, or Anglo American.

Fractional shares made it possible for people from any economic background to begin investing and learn about the market without risking large sums of money.

From zero to hero

Today, EasyEquities forms part of the Purple Group and is performing very well in South Africa. When the platform was launched in 2014, there were only 250,000 investors.

The group’s latest financial results for the 2025 financial year revealed that EasyEquities now manages R80 billion in client assets, with 2.6 million registered investors and over 1.1 million active clients.

Despite the volatility that has defined the economic and geopolitical landscape in 2026, the platform continues to grow and set new benchmarks.

“Like many of you, I spent part of it toggling between markets, headlines, sports channels, WhatsApp groups and my own thoughts about where this is all going,” Savage said.

“South Africans don’t experience markets from a distance. When the rand moves, we feel it. When commodities rally, the fiscus breathes. When global risk rises, capital shifts.”

And yet, in the middle of all that noise, Savage explained that something “quietly powerful” happened in February 2026.

“For the first time in our history, EasyEquities crossed R2 billion in deposits in a single month. We did it in 26 days. In our first year, we raised R100 million. What once took a year now happens in a single day.”

He explained that when he first saw that number, he did not think about growth rates or valuation. Instead, he thought about trust.

“That is not growth. That is trust compounding. It is millions of people choosing to build rather than consume. To own rather than rent. To invest rather than simply hope. That matters more than any index level.”